i  i 


W.e<J6 


PRINCEiaN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINSRY 


BY    THE    HEIRS    OF    THE    LATE 


profcasor  Ibcnrg  Cariinaton  BlcjanDcr,  5).H).,  3LU.2). 


u.  2.. 


THE 


OF 

MARCUS    TUIiLIUS    CICERO 


By  CONYERS  kiDDLETON,   D.D. 

PRINCIPAL   LIBRARIAN   TO   THE   UNIVERSITY    OF   CAMBRIDGEc 


IN    THREE    VOLUMES. 


Hunc  i^tur  spectemus.    Hoc  propositum  sit  nobis  exemplum. 
Ille  se  profecisse  sciat,  cui  Cicero  valde  placebit. 

QuintU.  Instit,  I.  x.  1. 


FROM   THE   LONDON    EDITION. 


VOL.    II, 


BOSTON  : 

PUBLISHED   BY    WELLS    AND   LILLY. 


1818. 


LIFE 


MARCUS  TUILILIUS  CICERO- 


SECTION    VI. 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic  50.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Spinthcr.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

Cicero's  return  was  what  he  himself  truly  calls  it, 
the  beginning  of  a  new  life  to  him,^  which  was  to  be 
governed  by  new  maxims,  and  a  new  kind  of  policy, 
yet  so  as  not  1o  forfeit  his  old  character.  He  had 
been  made  to  feel  in  what  hands  the  weight  of 
power  lay,  and  what  little  dependence  was  to  be 
placed  on  the  help  and  support  of  his  aristocratical 
friends :  Pompey  had  served  him  on  this  important 
occasion  very  sincerely,  and  with  the  concurrence 
also  of  Caesar,  so  as  to  make  it  a  point  of  i^ratitude, 
as  well  as  prudence,  to  be  more  observant  of  them 
than  he  had  hitherto  been :  The  senate,  on  the  oth- 
er hand,  with  the  magistrates,  and  the  honest  of 
all  ranks,  were  zealous  in  his  cause  ;  and  the  consul 


*  Alterius  vitae  qiioddam  initium  ordimur.  [ad  Att.  4.  1.]  In  another 
place,  he  calls  his  restoration  to  his  former  dignity,  TrstKiyymirieLv,  [ad 
Att.  6.  6.]  or  a  new  birth;  a  word  borrowed  probably  from  the  Py- 
thagorean  school,  and  applied  afterwards  by  the  sacred  writers  to  the 
renovation  of  our  nature  by  baptism,  as  well  as  our  restoration  to  life 
after  death  in  tlie  general  resurrection.     Matt.  xix.  29.     Tit.  iii.  5 


4  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vr. 

A.  Urb  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

Lentulus,  above  all,  seemed  to  make  it  the  sole 
end  and  glory  of  his  administration.^  This  un- 
common consent  of  opposite  parties,  in  promoting 
his  restoration,  drew  upon  him  a  variety  of  obliga- 
tions, which  must  needs  often  clash  and  interfere 
with  each  other,  and  which  it  was  his  part  still  to 
manage  so,  as  to  make  them  consistent  with  his 
honour,  his  safety,  his  private,  and  his  publick 
duty  :  these  Avere  to  be  the  springs  and  motives  of 
his  new  life,  the  hinges  on  which  his  future  con- 
duct was  to  turn ;  and  to  do  justice  severally  to 
them  all,  and  assign  to  each  its  proper  weight  and 
measure  of  influence,  required  his  utmost  skill  and 
address.f 

The  day  after  his  arrival,  on  the  fifth  of  Sep- 
tember, the  consuls  summoned  the  senate,  to  give 
him  an  opportunity  of  paying  his  thanks  to  them 
in  publick  for  their  late  services ;  where,  after  a 
general  profession  of  his  obligations  to  them  all,  he 
made  his  particular  acknowledgments  to  each  ma- 
gistrate by  name ;  to  the  consuls  ;  the  tribunes ; 
the  praetors  :  He  addressed  himself  to  the  tribunes, 
before  the^  praetors,  not  for  the  dignity  of  their 
office,  for  in  that  they  were  inferiour,  but  for  their 
greater  authority  in  making  laws  ;  and,  conse- 
quently, their  greater  merif  in  carrying  his  law 
into  effect.     The  number  of  his  private  friends  was 

*  Hoc  specimen  virtutis,  hoc  indicium  animi,  hoc  himen  consulatns 
suj  (ore  putavit,  si  me  mihi,  si  meis,  si  reipub.  reddidisset.— Post 
red.  in  Sen.  4. 

t  bed  quia  saepe  conciirrit,  propter  arquorum  de  me  mcritoriim 
mter  ipsos  contentiones,  ut  codem  tempore  in  omnes  verear  ne  vix 
possim  gratus  videri.  Sed  ego  hoc  meis  ponderibu«  examinabo,  non 
solum  quid  cuique  deheam,  sed  etiam  quid  cujusque  intersit,  et  quid 
a  me  cujusque  tempus  poscat.     Pro  Plancio.  32. « 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO. 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

too  great  to  make  it  possible  for  him  to  enumerate 
or  thank  them  all ;  so  that  he  confined  himself  to 
the  magistrates,  with  exception  only  to  Pompey,* 
whom,  for  the  eminence  of  his  character,  though 
at  present  only  a  private  man,  he  took  care  to  dis- 
tinguish by  a  personal  address  and  compliment. 
But,  as  Lent ul us  was  the  first  in  office,  and  had 
served  him  with  the  greatest  affection,  so  he  gives 
him  the  first  sliare  of  his  praise ;  and,  in  the  over- 
flowing of  his  gratitude,  stiles  him,  the  parent  and 
the  god  of  his  life  and  fortunes.f  The  next  day 
he  paid  liis  thanks  likewise  to  the  people,  in  a 
speech  from  the  rostra  ;  where  he  dwelt  chiefly  on 
the  same  topicks  which  he  had  used  in  the  senate, 
celebrating  the  particular  merits  and  services  of 
his  principal  friends,  especially  of  Pompey :  v^^hom 
he  declares  to  be  "the  greatest  man  for  virtue, 
"  wisdom,  glory,  who  was  then  living,  or  had  lived, 
"  or  ever  would  live ;  and  that  he  ovved  more  to 
"  him,  on  this  occasion,  than  it  was  even  lawful  al- 
''  most  for  one  man  to  owe  to  another."} 


*  Cum  perpaucis  nominatim  gratias  egissem,  quod  oranes  enn- 
merari  nullo  modo  possent,  scelus  autein  esset  quenquaru  praeterirK 
lb.  30. 

flodierno  autena  die  nominatim  a  me  raagistratibus  statui  gratias 
esse  agendas,  et  de  privatis  uni,  qui  pro  salute  mea  municipia,  co- 
loniasque  adiisset.     Post  red.  in  Sen.  12. 

f  Princeps  P.  Lentulus,  parens  ac  J)eus  nostrae  vitae,  fortauae, 
&c.  Ibid,  4.  It  was  a  kind  of  maxim  among  the  ancients,  that, 
"  to  do  good  to  a  mortal,  was  to  be  a  god  to  a  mortal  :" — Deus  esl 
mortali,  juvare  mortalcm.  [Plin.  Hist.  2.  7.]  Thus  Cicero,  as  he 
calls  Lentulus  here  his  god,  so,  on  other  occasions,  gives  the  same  ap- 
pellation to  Plato  :  ''Deus  illc  noster  Plato."— [Ad  Att.  1.  16,]— to 
express  the  highest  sense  of  the  benefits  received  from  them. 

X  Cn  Pompeius,  vir  omnium  qui  sunt,  ftierunt,  erunt,  princeps 
virtute,  sapientia,  ac  gloria.  Huic  ego  homini,  Quirites,  tantum 
debeo,  quantum  hominem  homini  debere  vix  fas  e<;t.  Post  red.  ad 
Quir.  7. 


THE    LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q   Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

Both  those  speeches  are  still  extant,  and  a  pas- 
sage or  two  from  each  will  illustrate  the  temper 
and  disposition  in  which  he  returned.    In  speaking 
to  the  senate,  after  a  particular  recital  of  the  ser- 
vices of  his  friends,  he  adds  :  "  as  I  have  a  pleasure 
"  in  enumerating  these,  so  I  willingly  pass  over  in 
"  silence  what  others  wickedly  acted  against  me  ; 
"  it  is  not  my  present  business  to  remember  inju- 
"  ries ;  which,  if  it  were  in  my  power  to  revenge, 
*'I  should  choose  to  forget;  my  life  shall  be  ap- 
"  plied  to  other  puposes  ;  to  repay  the  good  of- 
"  fices  of  those  who  have  deserved  it  of  me  ;  to  hold 
"  fast  the  friendships  which  have  been  tried  as  it 
'•  were  in  the  fire  ;  to  waoe  war  with  declared  ene- 
"  mies ;  to  pardon  my  timorous,  nor  yet  expose  my 
''  treacherous  friends ;  and  to  balance  the  misery 
*'  of  exile  by  the  dignity  of  my  return.''*     To  the 
"  people  he  observes ;  "  that  there  were  four  sorts 
"  of  enemies,  who  concurred  to  oppress  him :  the 
'*  first,   who,  out  of  hatred  to  the  republick,  were 
"  mortal  enemies  to  him  for  having  saved  it :  the 
"  second,  who,  under  a  false  pretence  of  friendship, 
"  infamously  betrayed  him :  the  third,  who,  through 
^'  their  in«»biiity  to  obtain  what  he  had  acquired, 
"  were  envious  of  his  dignity  :    the   fourth,   wdio 
"  though  by  office  they  ought  to  have   been  the 
"  guardians  of  the  republick,  bartered   away  his 
•'  safety,  the  peace  of  the  city,  and  the  dignity  of 
"  the  empire,  which  w^ere  committed  to  their  trust. 
"  I  will  take  my  revenge,"  says  he,  "  on  each  of 
*'  them,  agreeably  to  t|ie  different  manner  of  their 
•'  provocation  ;  on  the  bad  citizens,  by  defending 
"  the   republick   strenuously ;    on   my   perfidious 

*  Post  red.  in  Sen.  9. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO. 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic  50,    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

"  friends,  by  never  trusting  them  aoain  ;  on  the 
"  envious,  by  continuing  my  steady  pursuit  of  vir- 
"  tue  and  glory  ;  on  those  merchants  of  provinces, 
*'  by  calling  them  home  to  give  an  account  of  their 
"  administration  :  but  I  am  more  solicitous  how  to 
"  acquit  myself  of  my  obligations  to  you,  for  your 
"  great  services,  than  to  resent  the  injuries  and 
"  cruelties  of  my  enemies :  for  it  is  much  easier  to 
"  revenge  an  injury  than  to  repay  a  kindness,  and 
"  much  less  trouble  to  get  the  better  of  bad  men 
"  than  to  equal  the  good."=^ 

This  affair  being  happily  over,  the  senate  had 
leisure  again  to  attend  to  publick  business;  and 
there  was  now  a  case  before  them  of  a  very  urgent 
nature,  which  required  a  present  remedy ;  an  un- 
usual scarcity  of  corn  and  provisions  in  the  city, 
which  had  been  greatly  encreased  by  tlie  late  con- 
course of  people  from  all  parts  of  Italy,  on  Ci- 
cero's account,  and  was  now  felt  very  severely  by 
the  poorer  citizens :  They  had  borne  it  with  much 
patience  while  Cicero's  return  was  in  agitation ; 
comforting  themselves  with  a  notion,  that  if  he  was 
once  restored,  plenty  would  be  restored  with  him  ; 
but.  finding  the  one  at  last  effected  v*ithout  the 
other,  they  began  to  grow  clamorous,  and  unable 
to  endure  their  hunger  anv  longer. 

Clodius  could  not  slip  so  fair  an  opportunity  of 
Exciting  some  new  disturbance,  and  creating  fresh 
trouble  to  Cicero,  by  charging  the  calamity  to  his 
score  :  for  this  end  he  employed  a  number  of  young 
fellows  to  run  all  ni^ht  about  the  streets,  makin^r  a 

*  Post  red.  ad  Quir.  9. 


THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  ti, 

A.  Urb,  696.   Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 


lamentable  outcry  for  bread  ;  and  calling  upon  Ci- 
cero to  relieve  them  from  the  famine  to  which  he 
had  reduced  them  ;  as  if  he  had  got  some  hidden 
store  or  magazine  of  corn,  secreted  from  common 
use.^    He  sent  his  mob  also  to  the  theatre,  in  which 
the  praetor  Caecilius,    Cicero's  particular  friend, 
was  exhibiting  the  Apollinarian  shews,  where  they 
raised  such  a  terrour  that  they  drove  the  whole 
company  out  of  it :  then,  in  the  same  tumultuous 
manner,  they  marched  to  the  temple  of  Concord, 
whither  Metellus  had  summoned  the  senate ;  but 
happening  to  meet  with  Metellus  in  the  way,  they 
presently  attacked  him  with  vollies  of  stones ;  with 
some  of  which  they  wounded  even  the  consul  him- 
self, who,  for  the  greater  security,  immediately  ad- 
journed the  senate  into  the  Capitol.     They  were 
led  on  by  two  desperate  ruffians,  their  usual  com- 
manders, M.  Lollius  and  M.  Sergius  ;  the  first  of 
W'hom  had  in  Clodius's  tribunate  undertaken  the 
task'  of  killing  Pompey  ;  the  second  had  been  cap- 
tain of  the  guard  to  ('atiline,  and  was  probably  of 
his  family  :t  but  Clodius,  encouraged  by  this  hope- 
ful beginning,  put  himself  at  their  head  in  person, 
and  pursued  the  senate  into  the  Capitol,  in  order 


*  Qui  facnltate  oblata,  ad  iinperitorum  animos  incitandos,  renovatu- 
rum  ie  ilia  fnnesta  latrocinia  ob  annonae  causam  piitavisti.    Pro  dom.  5. 

Quid  ?  piieronim  ilia  concursatio  nocturna?  niira  a  te  ipso  instituta, 
me  frumentum  flagitabant  ?  Quasi  vero  ego  aut  rei  iVumentariae  prae- 
iuissem,  aut  compressum  aliquod  frumentum  tenerera.     lb.  6. 

t  Cum  homines  ad  tlieatrum  prirao,  deiude  ad  senatum  concurris- 
sent  impulsu  Clodii.     Ad  Att.  4.  1. 

Concursus  est  ad  tempIumConcordiae  factus,  senatum  illuc  vocante 
Metello— qui  sunt  homines  a  U.  Metello.  in  senatu  palam  nominati,  a 
quibus  ille  se  lapidibus  appetitum,  etiam  percussum  esse  dixit.— Quis 
est  iste  Lollius?  Qui  te  tribuno  pleb.— Cn.  Pompeium  interficiendum 
depoposcit.— Quis  est  Sergius  ?  arraigerCatilinae,  stipatortui  corporis, 
plgnifer  seditionis— his  atque  hujusmodi  ducibus,  cum  tu  in  annpnae 
caritate  in  cousules,  in  senatum — repentinos  impetus  comparares. — 
Pro  Dom.  5. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO. 


A.  Uib.  696.    Cic  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spiuther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 


to  disturb  their  debates,  and  prevent  their  provid- 
ing any  relief  for  the  present  evil ;  and  above  all, 
to  excite  the  meaner  sort  to  some  violence  acrainst 
Cicero.  But  he  soon  found,  to  his  great  disap- 
pointment, that  Cicero  was  too  strong  in  the  aifec- 
tions  of  the  ( ity  to  be  hurt  again  so  soon  :  for  the 
people  themselves  saw  through  his  design,  and 
were  so  provoked  at  it,  that  they  turned  universal- 
ly against  him,  and  drove  him  out  of  the  field  with 
all  his  mercenaries ;  when  perceiving  that  Cicero 
was  not  present  in  the  senate,  they  called  out  upon 
him  by  name  with  one  voice,  and  would  not  be 
quieted  till  he  came  in  person  to  undertake  their 
cause,  and  propose  some  expedient  for  their  relief. 
He  had  kept  his  house  all  that  day,  and  resolved 
to  do  so,  till  he  saw  the  issue  of  the  tumult ;  but 
when  he  understood  that  Clodius  was  repulsed, 
and  that  his  presence  was  Universally  reqiured  by 
the  consuls,  the  senate,  and  the  whole  people  :  he 
came  to  the  senate-house,  in  the  midst  of  their  de- 
bates, and  being  presently  asked  his  opinion,  pro- 
posed, that  Pompey  should  be  entreated  to  under- 
take the  province  of  restoring  plenty  to  the  city  ; 
and,  to  enable  him  to  execute  it  with  effect,  should 
be  invested  with  an  absolute  power  over  all  the 
publick  stores  and  corn-rents  of  the  empire  through 
all  the  provinces  :  the  motion  was  readily  accepted, 
and  a  vote  immediately  passed,  that  a  law  should 
be  prepared  for  that  purpose,  and  offered  to  liie 
people."^     All  the  consular  senators  were  absent, 

*  Ego  vero  dorai  me  tenui,  quamdiu  turbulentuiu  tempus  fiiit — cum 
servos  tuos  ad  rapiuam,  ad  bonoruni  caedem  paratos — armatos  etiaui 
!n  Capi<^oliiira  tecum  venisse  constabat — scio  me  domi  mansisse — pos- 
teaquam  mihi  nunciatum  est,  populnm  Roraannm  in  Capiiolium — con- 
venisse.  rainistros  autem  scelenim  tuorum  perlerritos,  partim  araissis 
gladiis,  partim  creptis,  diffugisse;  veni  noa  solum  sine  ullis  ropjis,  ac 
raanu,  vernm  etiam  cum  paucis  amicis. — lb.  3. 
VOL.    II,  2 


10  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vr. 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec  Metel.  Nepos. 


except  Messala  and  Afranius  :  they  pretended  to 
be  afraid  of  the  niob;  but  the  real  cause  was  their 
unwillingness  to  concur  in  grantins;  this  commission 
to  Pompey.  The  consuls  carried  the  decree  with 
them  into  the  Kostra,  and  read  it  publickly  to  the 
people  ;  who,  on  the  mention  of  Cicero's  name,  in 
which  it  was  drawn,  gave  an  universal  shout  of  ap- 
plause ;  upon  which,  at  the  desire  of  all  the  magis- 
trates, Cicero  made  a  speech  to  them,  setting  forth 
the  reasons  and  necessity  of  the  decree,  and  giving 
them  the  comfort  of  a  speedy  relief,  from  the  vigi- 
lance and  authority  of  Pompey.^  The  absence 
however  of  the  consular  senators  gave  a  handle  to 
reflect  upon  the  act,  as  not  free  and  valid,  but  ex- 
torted by  fear,  and  without  the  intervention  of  the 
principal  members  ;  but  the  very  next  day,  in  a 
fuller  house,  when  all  those  senators  were  present, 
and  a  motion  was  made  to  revoke  the  decree,  it 
was  unanimously  rejected  ;t  and  the  consuls  were 
ordered  to  draw  up  a  law  conformable  to  it,  by 
which  the  whole  administration  of  the  corn  and  pro- 
visions of  the  republick  was  to  be  granted  to  Pom- 

E^o  deniqfre^—a  popnlo  Romano  universo,  qui  turn  in  CapitoJium 
convenerat,  cura  ilJo  die  minus  valerem,  nominatim  in  senatuni  voca- 
bar.  Veni  exspectatus ;  rauitisjara  sententiis  dictis,  rogatus  sum  sen- 
tentiam ;  dixi  reipub.  saluberrimam,  mihi  necessariara.     lb.  7. 

Factum  est  S.  C  in  meam  sententiam,  ut  cum  Pompeio  ageretup, 
ut  earn  rem  susciperet,  lexque  ferretur.     Ad  Att.  4    1. 

*  Cum  abessent  consulares,  quod  tuto  se  negarent  posse  sententiam 
dicere,  praetor  Messalara  et  Atranium.     Ibid. 

Quo  S.  C.  recitato.  cum  contimio  more  hoc  iusulso  et  novo  plausuro, 
meo  nomine  recitando  dedisset,  habui  coucionem. — Ibid. 

t  At  enim  liberum  senatus  judicium  propter  metum  non  fuit.  Pro 
dom.  4. 

Postridie  senatus  frcquens,  et  omnes  consulares  nihil  Pompeio  pos- 
tulanti  negarunt.     Ad  Att.  4.  1. 

Cum  omnes  adessent,  coeptum  est  referri  de  inducendo  S.  C.  i  ab 
nniverso  senatu  reclamatum  est.    Pro  dora.  4. 


^ECT.  VI.  CICERO.  11 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic,  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

pey  for  five  years,  with  a  power  of  choosing  fif- 
teen lieutenants  to  assist  him  in  it. 

This  furnished  Clodius  with  fresh  matter  of 
abuse  upon  Cicero  :  he  charged  him  "  with  ingra- 
"  titude,  and  the  desertion  of  the  senate,  which  had 
"always  been  firm  to  him,  in  order  to  pay  his 
"  court  to  a  man  who  had  betrayed  him :  and 
"that  he  was  so  silly  as  not  to  know  his  own 
"  strength  and  credit  in  the  city,  and  how  able  he 
"  was  to  maintain  his  authority  without  the  help 
"  of  Pompey.""^  But  Cicero  defended  himself  by 
saying,  "  that  they  must  not  expect  to  play  the 
"  same  game  upon  him  now  that  he  was  restored, 
"  with  which  he  had  ruined  him  before,  by  raising 
"jealousies  between  him  and  Pompey:  that  he 
"  had  smarted  for  it  too  severely  already,  to  be 
"  caught  again  in  the  same  trap ;  that,  in  decree- 
"  ing  this  commission  to  Pompey,  he  had  discharg- 
"  ed  both  his  private  obligations  to  a  friend,  and 
"  his  publick  duty  to  the  senate  ;  that  those  who 
"  grudged  all  extraordinary  power  to  Pompey, 
"  must  grudge  the  victories,  the  triumphs,  the  ac- 
"  cession  of  dominion  and  revenue,  which  their 
"  former  grants  of  this  sort  had  procured  to  the 
"empire;  that  the  success  of  those  shewed,  what 
"  fruit  they  were  to  expect  from  this."t 

*  Tune  es  ille,  ioquit,  quo  senatus  carere  non  potuit  ? — quo  resti- 
tuto,  senatus  auctoritatera  restitutara  putabamus  ?  quam  primuna  ad- 
veniens  prodidisti.     lb.  2. 

Nescit  quantum  auctoritate  valeat,  quas  res  gesserit,  qua  dignitate 
sit  restitutus.     Cur  ornat  euro,  a  quo  desertus  est?  lb.  11. 

f  Desinant  homines  iisdem  raachinis  sperare  me  restitutum  posse 
labefactari,  quibus  antea  stantem  perculerunt — data  meroes  est  er- 
roris  raei  magna,  ut  me  non  solum  pigeat  stultitiae  meae,  sed  ctiam 
pudeat.     lb.  11. 


12  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  6Q6.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec  Metel.  Nepos. 


But  what  authoritv  soever  this  law  conferred  on 
Pompey,  his  creatures  were  not  yet  satisfied  with 
it ;  so  that  Messius,  one  of  the  tribunes,  proposed 
another,  to  give  him  the  additional  power  of  rais- 
ing what  money,  fleets,  and  armies  he  thought 
fit ;  with  a  greater  command  through  all  the  pro- 
vinces, than  their  proper  governours  had  in  each. 
Cicero's  law  seemed  modest  in  comparison  of 
Messius' s :  Pompey  pretended  to  be  content  with 
the  first,  whilst  all  his  dependents  were  pushing 
for  the  last;  they  expected  that  Cicero  would 
come  over  to  them ;  but  he  continued  silent,  nor 
would  stir  a  step  farther ;  for  his  affairs  were  still 
in  sucli  a  state,  as  obliged  him  to  act  with  caution, 
and  to  manage  both  the  senate  and  the  men  of 
power :  the  conclusion  was,  that  Cicero's  law  was 
received  by  all  parties,  and  Pompey  named  him 
for  his  first  lieutenant,  declaring  that  he  should 
consider  him  as  a  second  self,  and  act  nothing 
without  his  advice.^  Cicero  accepted  the  employ- 
ment ;  on  condition  that  he  might  be  at  liberty  to 
use  or  resign  it  at  pleasure,  as  he  found  it  con- 
venient to  his  affairs  :t  but  he  soon  after  quitted 


Cn.  Pompeio — maxima  terra  marique  bella  extra  ordinera  esse  cora- 
raissa  :  qiiarum  rerura  si  quern  poeniteat,  eum  victoriae  populi  Ro- 
raani  necesse  est  poenitere.     lb.  8. 

*  Legem  consules  conscripserunt — alteram  Messius,  qua  omnis  pe- 
cuniae ilat  potestatem,  et  adjungit  classem  et  exercilum,  et  majus 
imperium  in  provinciis,  quam  sit  eorum,  qui  eas  obtinent.  [Ila  nos- 
tra lex  consularis  nunc  modesta  videtur,  haec  Messii  non  ferenda. 
Pompeius  ilJam  velle  se  dicit ;  familiares  banc.  Consulares  duce 
Favonio  fremunt,  nos  tacemus;,et  ego  magis,  quod,  de  dome  nostra 
nihil  adhiic  pontifiees  respouderifnt. — 

llle  Icgatos  quindecim  cum  postularet,  me  principem  nominavit  et 
ad  omnia  me  alterum  se  fore  dixit. — Ad  Att.  4.  1. 

f  Ego  me  a  Pompeio  legari  ita  sum  passus,  ut  nulla  re  impedirer, 
quod  ne,  si  vellem,  naihi  esset  integrum. — lb.  2. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  13 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

it  to  his  brother,  and  chose  to  continue  in  the  city ; 
where  he  had  the  pleasure  to  see  the  end  of  his 
law  effectually  answered :  for  the  credit  of  Pom- 
pey's  name  immediately  reduced  the  price  of  vic- 
tuals in  the  markets  ;  and  his  vigour  and  diligence 
in  prosecuting  the  affair  soon  established  a  gene- 
ral plenty. 

Cicero  was  restored  to  his  former  dignity,  but 
not  to  his  former  fortunes ;  nor  was  any  satisfac- 
tion yet  made  to  him  for  the  ruin  of  his  houses  and 
estates  :  a  full  restitution  indeed  had  been  decreed, 
but  was  reserved  to  his  return,  which  came  now 
before  the  senate,  to  be  considered  and  settled  by 
publick  authority,  where  it  met  still  with  great  ob- 
struction. The  chief  difficulty  was  about  his  Pa- 
latine house,  which  he  valued  above  all  the  rest, 
and  which  Clodius  for  that  reason,  had  contrived 
to  alienate,  as  he  hoped,  irretrievably,  by  demol- 
ishing the  fabrick,  and  dedicating  a  temple  upon 
the  area  to  the  goddess  Liberty  :  where,  to  make 
his  work  the  more  complete,  he  pulled  down  also 
the  adjoining  portico  of  Catulus,  that  he  might 
build  it  up  anew,  of  the  same  order  with  his  tem- 
ple ;  and,  by  blending  the  publick  with  private 
property,  and  consecrating  the  whole  to  religion, 
might  make  it  impossible  to  separate  or  restore 
any  part  to  Cicero,  since  a  consecration,  legally 
performed,  made  the  thing  consecrated  unapplica- 
ble  ever  after  to  any  private  use. 

This  portico  was  built,  as  has  been  said,  on  the 
spot  where  Fulvius  Flaccus  formerly  lived,  whose 
house  was  publickly  demolished,  for  the  treason  of 
its  master  ;  and  it  was  Clodius's  design  to  join  Ci- 


14  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  SO.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec  Metel.  Nepos. 

cero's  to  it,  under  the  same  denomination,  as  the 
perpetual  memorial  of  a  disgrace  and  punishment 
inflicted  by  the  people.^  When  he  had  finished 
the  portico,  therefore,  and  annexed  his  temple  to 
it,  which  took  up  but  a  small  part,  scarce  a  tenth 
of  Cicero's  house,  he  left  the  rest  of  the  area  void, 
in  order  to  plant  a  grove,  or  walks  of  pleasure 
upon  it,  as  had  been  usual  in  such  cases ;  where,  as 
it  has  been  observed,  he  was  prosecuting  a  particu- 
lar interest,  as  well  as  indulging  his  malice  in  ob- 
structing the  restitution  of  it  to  Cicero. 

The  affair  was  to  be  determined  by  the  college 
of  priests,  who  were  the  judges  in  all  cases  re- 
lating to  religion :  for  the  senate  could  only  make 
a  provisional  decree,  "  That  if  the  priests  dis- 
''  charged  the  ground  from  the  service  of  religion, 
"then  the  consuls  should  take  an  estimate  of  the 
"  damage,  and  make  a  contract  for  rebuilding  the 
"  whole,  at  the  publick  charge,  so  as  to  restore  it 
"  to  Cicero,  in  the  condition  in  which  he  left  it."t 
The  priests,  therefore,  of  all  orders  were  called 
together  on  the  last  df  September,  to  hear  this 
cause,  vfliiTh  Cicero  pleaded  in  person  before 
them  :  They  were  men  of  the  first  dignity  and  fa- 
milies in  the  republick ;  and  there  never  was,  as 
Cicero  tells  us,  so  full  an  appearance  of  them  in 
any  cause,  since  the  foundation  of  the  city  :  he 
reckons  up  nineteen   by   name,   a  great  part  of 

*  TJt  domus  M.  Tullii  Ciceropis  cum  domo  Fulvii  Flacci  ad  ine- 
moriarn  poenae  publice  constitiitae  conjuncta  esse  videatur.  Pro 
dom.  38. 

f  Qui  si  sustnlerint  religionern,  aream  praeclarara  habebimus  :  su- 
perficiem  consiiles  ex  S.  C.  aestimabunt. — Ad  Att.  4.  1. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  if, 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Spiuther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

whom  were  of  consular  rank.^  His  first  care,  be- 
fore he  entered  into  the  merits  of  the  question, 
was  to  remove  the  prejudices  which  his  enemies 
had  been  labouring  to  instil,  on  the  account  of  his 
late  conduct  in  favour  of  Pompey,  by  explaining 
the  motives,  and  shewing  the  necessity  of  it ;  con- 
triving at  the  same  time  to  turn  the  odium  on  the 
other  side,  by  running  over  the  history  of  Clodius's 
tribunate,  and  painting  all  its  violences  in  the  most 
lively  colours ;  but  the  c[uestion  on  which  the 
cause  singly  turned,  was  about  the  efficacy  of  the 
pretended  consecration  of  the  house,  and  the  de- 
dication of  the  temple  :  to  shew  the  nullity,  there- 
fore, of  this  act,  he  endeavours  to  overthrow  the 
very  foundation  of  it,  "  and  prove  Clodius's  tribu- 
"  nate  to  be  originally  null  and  void,  from  the 
"  invalidity  of  his  adoption,  on  which  it  was  en- 
"  tirely  grounded :"  he  shews,  "  that  the  sole  end 
«' of  adoption,  which  the  laws  acknowledged,  was 
"  to  supply  the  want  of  children,  by  borrowing 
"  them  as  it  .were  from  other  families  ;  that  it  was 
"  an  essential  condhion  of  it,  that  he  who  adopted 
''  had  no  children  of  his  own,  nor  was  in  condition 
« to  have  any  :  that  the  parties  concerned  were 
''  obliged  to  appear  before  the  priests,  to  signify 
"  their  consent,  the  cause  of  the  adoption,  the  cir- 
"  cumstances  of  the  families  interested  in  it,  and 
"  the  nature  of  their  religious  rites ;  and  that  the 
"  priests  might  judge  of  the  whole,  and  see  that 
'•  there  was  no  fraud  or  deceit  in  it,  nor  any  dis- 
"  honour  to  any  family  or  person  concerned :  that 
'«  nothing  of  all  this  had  been  observed  in  the  case 
«'  of  Clodius  :  that  the  adopter  was  not  full  twenty 


*  Nego  unquara  post  sacra  constitiita,  quorum  eadem  est  antiqui- 
tas,  quae  ipsius  urbis,  nlla  de  re,  ne.  de  capite  quidem  virginura  ves~ 
taliura,  taua  fiequens  collegium  judicasse.    De  Harnsp.  resp.  6,  7. 


16  THE    LIFE    OF 


SECT 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic  50.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 


"  years  old,  when  he  adopted  a  senator,  who  was 
"  old  enough  to  be  his  father :  that  he  had  no  oc- 
''  casion  to  adopt,  since  he  had  a  wife  and  chil- 
"  dren,  and  would  probably  have  more,  which  he 
"  must  necessarily  disinherit  by  this  adoption,  if  it 
"  was  I'eal :  that  Clodius  had  no  other  view  than, 
^'  by  the  pretence  of  an  adoption,  to  make  himself 
*'  a  plebeian  and  tribune,  in  order  to  overturn  the 
"  state  ;  that  the  act  itself,  which  confirmed  the 
"  adoption,  was  null  and  illegal,  being  transacted 
"  while  Bibulus  was  observing  the  auspices,  which 
"  was  contrary  to  express  law,  and  huddled  over 
''  in  three  hours  by  Caesar,  when  it  ought  to  have 
"  been  published  for  three  market  days  successive- 
"  ly,  at  the  interval  of  nine  days  each  :*  that  if  the 
"  adoption  was  irregular  and  illegal,  as  it  certainly 
"  was,  the  tribunate  must  needs  be  so  too,  which 
"  was  entirely  built  upon  it :  but  granting  the  tri- 
"  bunate,  after  all,  to  be  valid,  because  some  emi- 
"  nent  men  would  have  it  so,  yet  the  act  made  af- 
"  terw^ards  for  his  banishment  could  not  possibly 
'^  be  considered  as  a  law,  but  as  a  privilege  only, 
"  made  against  a  particular  person,  W'hich  the  sa- 
"  cred  law%  and  the  laws  of  tlie  twelve  tables,  had 
"  utterly  prohibited  :  that  it  was  contrary  to  the 
"  very  constitution  of  the  republick,  to  punish  any 
*'  citizen,  either  in  body  or  ^oods,  till  he  had  been 
"  accused  in  proper  form,  and  condemned  of  some 
"  crime  by  competent  judges  :  that  privileges,  or 
"  laws  to  inflict  penaHies  on  singJe  persons  by  name, 
''  without  a  legal  triaJ, ,  were  cruel  and  pernicious, 
'*  and  nothing  better  than  proscriptions,  and  of  all 
"  things  not  to  be  endured  in  their  city."t      Then, 

*  Prodora.  13,  14,  15,  16. 

fib.   17.  in  privos  Loraiues  Jeges  ferri  noluerunt ;  id'est  enim  pri- 
Yilegiuin  :  quo  quid  est  iujtistius  ?     de  Legib.  3.  19. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  17 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.     Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

in  entering  upon  the  question  of  his  house,  he  de- 
clares, "  that  the  whole  etTect  of  his  restoration  de- 
"  pended  upon  it ;  that  if  it  was  not  given  back  to 
"  him,  but  suffered  to  remain  a  monument  of  tri- 
"  umph  to  his  enemy,  of  o;rief  and  calamity  to  him- 
"  self,  he  could  not  consider  it  as  a  restoration,  but 
*^  a  perpetual  punishment :  that  his  house  stood  in 
"  the  view  of  the  whole  people,  and  if  it  must  con- 
"  tinue  in  its  present  state,  he  should  be  forced  to 
"  remove  to  some  other  place,  and  could  never  en- 
*•  dure  to  live  in  that  city,  in  which  he  must  always 
^'  see  trophies  erected  both  against  himself  and  the 
"  republick  :  the  house  of  Sp.  Melius,"  says  he, 
"  who  affected  a  tyraimy,  was  levelled  ;  and  by  the 
"  name  of  Aequimelium,  given  to  the  place,  the 
"  people  confirmed  the  equity  of  his  punishment : 
"  the  house  of  Sp.  Cassius  was  overturned  also  for 
"  the  same  cause,  and  a  temple  raised  upon  it  to 
"  Tellus  :  M.  Yaccus's  house  was  confiscated  and 
"  levelled ;  and,  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his 
"  treason,  the  place  is  still  called  Yaccus's  mea- 
*'  dows  :  M.  Manlius  likewise,  after  he  had  repuls- 
"  ed  the  Gauls  from  the  Capitol,  not  content  with 
"  the  glory  of  that  service,  was  adjudged  to  aim  at 
"  dominion,  so  that  his  house  was  demolished,  where 
"  you  now   see  the  two  groves  planted  :  must  I 
"  therefore  suffer  that  punishment,  which  our  an- 
"  cestors  inflicted  as  the  greatest,  on  wicked  and 
''  traitorous  citizens,  that  posterity  may  consider 
"  me,  not  as  the  oppressor,  but  the  author  and  cap- 
"  tain  of  the  conspiracy  ?"^      When  he  comes  to 
speak  of  the  dedication  itself,  he  observes,  "  that 
"the  goddess  Liberty,  to  which  the  temple  was 
"  dedicated,  was  the  known  statue  of  a  celebrated 

*  Pro  (lorn.  37,  38. 
VOL.    IT,  3 


18  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vu 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

'  strumpet,  which  Appius  brought  from  Greece, 
'  for  the  ornament  of  his  aedileship :  and,  upon 
'  dropping  the  thoughts  of  that  magistracy,  gave 
'  orders  to  his  brother  Clodius  to  be  advanced  to  a 
'  deity  :^  that  the  ceremony  was  performed  with- 
'  out  any  license  or  judgment  obtained  from  the 
'  college  of  priests,  by  the  single  ministry  of  a 

*  young  raw  man,  the  brother-in-law  of  Clodius, 
'  who  had  been  made  priest  but  a  few  days  before ; 
'  a  mere  novice  in  his  business,  and  forced  into  the 

•  service  :t  but  if  all  had  been  transacted  regular- 
'  ly,  and  in  due  form,  that  it  could  not  possibly 
'  have  any  force,  as  being  contrary  to  the  standing 
'  laws  of  tlie  republick  :  for  there  was  an  old  tri- 

bunician  law  made  by  Q.  Papirius,  which  prohi- 
bited the  consecration  of  houses,  lands,  or  altars, 
without  tlie  express  command  of  the  people  ; 
which  was  not  obtained,  nor  even  pretended  in 
the  present  case  :{  that  great  regard  had  always 
been  paid  to  this  law  in  several  instances  of  the 
gravest  kind :  that  Q.  Marcius,  the  censor,  erect- 
ed a  statue  of  Concord  in  a  publick  part  of  the 
city,  which  C.  Cassius  afterwards,  when  censor, 
removed*into  the  senate-house,  and  consulted  the 
college  of  priests,  whether  he  might  not  dedicate 
the  statue  and  the  house  also  itself  to  Concord  : 
upon  which  M.  Aemilius,  the  high-priest,  gave 
answer,  in  tlie  name  of  the  college,  that  unless 
the  people  had  deputed  him  by  name,  and  he  act- 
ed in  it  by  their  authority,  they  were  of  opinion 
that  he  could  not  rightly  dedicate  them  :?  that 
Licinia  also,  a  vestal  virgin,  dedicated  an  altar 
and  little  temple  under  the  sacred  rock ;  upon 


*  Pro  dom.  43.  f  lb.  45.  t  lb.  49. 

5  Pro  dora.  51.  53, 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  19 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— f*.  Corn.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

*'  which  S.  Julius,  the  praetor,  by  order  of  the  se- 
*'  nate,  consulted  the  college  of  priests  ;  for  whom 
*'  P.  Scaevola,  the  hi^li-priest,  gave  answer,  that 
"  what  Licinia  had  dedicated  in  a  publick  place, 
"  without  any  order  of  the  people,  could  not  be 
''  considered  as  sacred :  so'  that  the  senate  enjoin- 
*'  ed  the  praetor  to  see  it  desecrated,  and  to  efface 
"  whatever  had  been  inscribed  upon  it :  after  all 
"  this,  it  was  to  no  purpose,  he  tells  them,  to  men- 
"  tion  what  he  had  proposed  to  speak  to  in  the  last 
''place,  that  the  dedication  was  not  performed 
"with  any  of  the  solemn  words  and  rites  which 
"  such  a  function  required,  but  by  the  ignorant 
"  young  man  before  mentioned,  without  the  help 
"  of  his  colleagues,  his  books,  or  any  to  prompt 
"  him ;  especially  when  Clodius,  Avho  directed  him, 
"  that  impure  enemy  to  all  religion,  who  often 
''  acted  the  woman  among  men,  as  well  as  the  man 
"  among  women,  huddled  over  the  whole  ceremo- 
"  ny  in  a  blundering,  precipitate  manner,  faulter- 
*'  ing  and  confounded  in  mind,  voice,  and  speech, 
"often  recalling  himself,  doubting,  fearing,  hesi- 
"  tating,  and  performing  every  thing  quite  contra- 
"  ry  to  what  the  sacred  books  prescribed :  nor  is 
"  it-  strange,  says  he,  that  in  an  act  so  mad  and 
"villainous,  his  audaciousness  could  not  get  the 
"  better  of  his  fears :  for  what  pirate,  though  ever 
"  so  barbarous,  after  he  had  been  plundering  tem- 
"  pies,  when  pricked  by  a  dream  or  scruple  of  re- 
"ligion,  he  came  to  consecrate  some  altar  on  a 
"  desert  shore,  was  not  terrified  in  his  mind,  on 
"  being  forced  to  appease  that  deity  by  his  pray- 
"  ers,  whom  he  had  provoked  by  his  sacrilege  ?  In 
"  what  horrours,  then,  think  you,  must  this  man 
"  needs  be,  the  plunderer  of  all  temples,  houses. 


20  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  \i 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50     Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec  MeteL  Nepos. 

"  and  the  whole  city,  when,  for  the  expiation  of  so 
"  many  impieties,  he  was  wickedly  consecrating 
"  one  single  altar  ?'^  Then,  after  a  solemn  invocation 
"and  appeal  to  all  the  gods  who  peculiarly  fa- 
"  voLired  and  protected  that  city,  to  bear  witness 
"  to  the  integrity  of  his  zeal  and  love  to  the  re- 
"  publick,  and  that  in  all  his  labours  and  strug- 
"  gles,  he  had  constantly  preferred  the  publick 
*'  benefit  to  his  own,  he  commits  the  justice  of 
"  his  cause  to  the  judgment  of  the  venerable 
"  bench." 

He  was  particularly  pleased  with  the  composi- 
tion of  this  speech,  w^hich  he  published  immediate- 
ly ;  and  says  upon  it,  that  if  ever  he  made  any 
figure  in  speaking,  his  indignation,  and  the  sense 
of  his  injuries,  had  inspired  him  with  new  force 
and   spirit  in   this   cause.f     The   sentence   of  the 
priests  turned  wholly  on  what  Cicero  had  alleged 
about'  the  force  of  the  Papirian  law ;  viz.  that  if 
he,  who  performed  the  office  of  consecration,  had 
not  been  specially  authorised  and  personally  ap- 
pointed to  it  by  the  people,  then  the  area  in  ques- 
tion  mighV  without   any   scruple  of  religion,  be 
restored  to  Cicero.     This,  though  it  seemed  some- 
what evasive,  was  sufficient  for  Cicero's  purpose  ; 
and  his  friends  congratulated  him  upon  it,  as  upon 
a  clear  victory ;  while   Clodius  interpreted  it  still 
in  favour  of  himself,  and   being  produced  into  the 
rostra  by  his  brother  Appius,  acquainted  the  peo- 

*  Pro  dom.  54,  55. 

t  Acta  res  est  accurate  a  nobis:  et  si  unquam  in  dicendo  fuiraus 
aliqni<l,  aut  etiam  si  iinqnam  alias  fiiimiis.  turn  profccto  dolor  et  mag- 
nitiido  vim  quandum  nobis  d  tendi  dedit.  Itaque  oratio  juventgts 
nostrae  deberi  non  potest.     Ad  Att.  4.  2. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  21 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.     Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spintber.    Q.  Caec.  MetPl.  Nepos. 

pie  "  that  the  priests  had  given  judgment  for  him, 
"  but  that  Cicero  was  preparing  to  recover  posses- 
"  sion  by  force,  and  exhorted  them,  therefore,  to 
"  follow  him  and  Appius  in  the  defence  of  their 
"  liberties."  But  his  speech  made  no  impression 
on  the  audience  ;  "  some  wondered  at  his  impu- 
"  dence,  others  laughed  at  his  folly,  and  Cicero 
"  resolved  not  to  trouble  himself,  or  the  people, 
"  about  it,  till  the  consuls,  by  a  decree  of  the  se- 
''  nate,  had  contracted  for  rebuilding  the  portico,  of 
"  Catulus.* 

The  senate  met  the  next  day,  in  a  full  house,  to 
put  an  end  to  this  affair ;  when  Marcellinus,  one 
of  the  consuls-elect,  being  called  upon  to  speak 
first,  addressed  himself  to  the  priests,  and  desired 
them  to  give  an  account  of  the  grounds  and  mean- 
ing of  their  sentence  ;  upon  which  Lucullus,  in 
the  name  of  the  rest,  declared,  "  that  the  priests 
"were  indeed  the  judges  of  religion,  but  the  se- 
"  nate  of  the  law;  that  they  therefore  had  deter- 
"  mined  only  what  related  to  the  point  of  religion, 
"and  left  it  to  the  senate  to  determine  whether 
"  any  obstacle  remained  in  point  of  law  :"  all  the 
other  priests  spoke  largely  after  him  in  favour  of 
Cicero's  cause  :  when  Clodius  rose  afterwards  to 


*  Cum  pontifices  decressent,  ita;  ♦' Si  neqiie  populi  jiissu,  neque 
plebisscitu,  is  qui  se  dedicasse  diceret,  nominatinj  oi  rei  praefectus 
esset ;  neque  populi  jus'^ii,  neque  plebisscitu  id  facere  Jussus  esset, 
videri  posse  sine  religione  eani  partem  areae  milii  it  slitui."  Mihi 
factja  statim  est  gratulatio ;  nemo  enim  dubitat.  quin  domus  nobis 
esset  adjudicata.  Turn  subito  ille  in  confionem  a>t!ndit,  quara 
Appius  ei  dedit :  nunciat  jam  populo,  pontifices  secundum  se  detre- 
visse  ;  me  autem  vi  conaii  in  possessionem  venii e  :  hortaUir,  ut  se  et 
Appium  sequantur,  et  suam  libertatem  ut  defendant.  Hie  cum  etiam 
illi  infimi  partim  admirareutur,  partim  irriderent  bominis  amen- 
tiam.     Ad  Att.  4.  2. 


22  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 


speak,  he  endeavoured  to  waste  the  time  so,  as  to 
hinder  their  coming  to  any  resolution  that  day; 
but  after  he  had  been  speaking  for  three  hours 
successively;  the  assembly  grew  so  impatient,  and 
made  such  a  noise  and  hissing,  that  he  was  forced 
to  give  over :  yet,  when  they  were  going  to  pass 
a  decree,  in  the  words  of  Marcellinus,  Serranus 
put  his  negative  upon  it :  this  raised  an  universal 
indignation  ;  and  a  fresh  debate  began,  at  the 
motion  of  the  two  consuls,  on  the  merit  of  the 
tribune's  intercession ;  when,  after  many  warm 
speeches,  they  came  to  the  following  vote  :  "  That 
"  it  was  the  resolution  of  the  senate,  that  Cicero's 
"house  should  be  restored  to  him,  and  Catulus's 
"  portico  rebuilt,  as  it  had  been  before  ;  and  that 
''this  vote  should  be  defended  by  all  the  magis- 
"  trates  ;  and  if  any  violence  or  obstruction  was 
"  offered  lo  it,  that  the  senate  would  look  upon  it, 
"  as  offered  by  him,  who  had  interposed  his  nega- 
"  tiv^."  This  staggered  Serranus,  and  the  late 
farce  was  played  over  again  ;  his  father  threw  him- 
self at  his  feet,  to  beg  him  to  desist ;  he  desired  a 
night's  time,  which  at  first  was  refused,  but,  on  Ci- 
cero's request,  granted ;  and  the  next  day  he  re- 
voked his  negative,  and,  without  farther  opposi- 
tion, suffered  the  senate  to  pass  a  decree,  that  Ci- 
cero's damage  should  be  made  good  to  him,  and 
his  houses  re-built  at  the  publick  charge.^ 

The  consuls  began  presently  to  put  the  decree 
in  execution ;  and,  having  contracted  for  th6  I'e- 
building  Catulus's  portico,  set  men  to  work,  upon 
clearing  the  ground,  and  demolishing  what  had 
been  built  by  Clodius :  but  as  to  Cicero's  build- 

*  Ad  Att.  4.  2. 


SECT.    V] 


CICERO.  23 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.    Com.  Lent.    Spiuther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

ings,  it  was  agreed  to  take  an  estimate  of  his 
damage,  and  pay  the  amount  of  it  to  himself,  to 
be  laid  out  according  to  liis  own  fancy  :  in  which 
his  Palatine  house  was  valued  at  sixteen  thousand 
pounds :  his  Tusculan  at  four  thousand ;  his  For- 
mian  only  at  two  thousand.  This  was  a  very  de- 
ficient and  shameful  valuation,  which  all  the  world 
cried  out  upon  ;  for  the  Palatine  house  had  cost 
him,  not  long  before,  near  twice  that  sum  :  but 
Cicero  would  not  give  himself  any  trouble  about 
it,  or  make  any  exceptions,  which  gave  the  con- 
suls a  handle  to  throw  the  blame  upon  his  own 
modesty,  for  not  remonstrating  against  it,  and 
seeming  to  be  satisfied  with  what  was  awarded: 
but  the  true  reason  was,  as  he  himself  declares, 
that  those  wdio  had  dipt  his  wings  had  no  mind  to 
let  tliem  grow  again ;  and  though  they  had  been 
his  advocates  when  absent,  began  now  to  be  se- 
cretly angry,  and  openly  envious  of  him  when  pre- 
sent.^ 

But  as  he  was  never  covetous,  this  affair  gave 
him  no  great  uneasiness  ;  thouoh,  through  the  late- 
ruin  of  his  fortunes,  he  was  now  in  such  want  of 
money,  that  he  resolved  to  expose  his  Tusculan 
villa  to  sale  ;  but  soon  changed  his  mind  and  built 
it  up  again  with  much  more  magnificence  than 
before;  and   for  the    beauty  of  its  situation   and 


*  Nobis  superficiem  aediiim  consules  de  consilii  sententia  aestiraa- 
runt  H.S.  vicies ;  caetera  valde  illiberaliter ;  Tusculanara  villam 
quingentis  millibus;  Formianuin  U.S.  diicentis  quinquagiutamillibus  : 
qnae'aestimatio  non  modo  ab  optimo  qnoque,  sed  etiam  a  plebe  re- 
prehenditur.  Dices,  quid  igitur  causae  luit  ?  Dicuot  illi  quidem 
pudorein  raeum,  quod  iieque  negarim,  neque  vehementius  postula- 
rim.  Sed  non  est  id;  nam  hoc  quidem  etiam  profuisset.  Verum 
iidem,  mi  Pomponi,  iidem  inquara  illi,  qui  miiii  pennas  incideruut, 
nolunt  easdem  reoasci.     Ibid. 


24  THE    LIFE    OP  SECT.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spintiier.  Q.  Caec  Metd.  N^os. 


neighbourhood  to  the  city,  took  more  pleasure  in 
it  ever  after,  than  in  any  other  of  his  country  seats. 
But  he  had  some  domestick  grievances  about  this 
time,  which  touched  him  more  nearly ;  and  which, 
as  he  signifies  obscurely  to  Atticus,  were  of  too 
delicate  a  nature  to  be  explained  by  a  letter  :^ 
they  arose  chiefly  from  the  petulant  humour  of 
his  wife,  which  began  to  give  him  frequent  occa- 
sions of  chagrin  ;  and,  by  a  series  of  repeated  pro- 
vocations, confirmed  in  him  that  settled  disgust, 
which  ended  at  last  in  a  divorce. 

As  he  was  now  restored  to  the  possession  both 
of  his  dignity  and  fortunes,  so  he  was  desirous  to 
destroy  all  the  publick  monuments  of  his  late  dis- 
grace ;  nor  to  suflfer  the  law  of  his  exile  to  remain, 
with  the  other  acts  of  Clodius's  tribunate,  hanging 
up  in  the  Capitol,  engraved,  as  usual,  on  tables  of 
brass  :  watching  therefore  the  opportunity  of  Clo- 
dius's  absence,  he  went  to  the  Capitol  with  a  strong 
body  of  his  friends,  and  taking  the  tables  down 
conveyed  them  to  his  own  house.  This  occasion- 
ed a  sharp  contest  in  the  senate  between  him  and 
Clodius,  aTjout  the  validity  of  those  acts  ;  and 
drew  Cato  also  into  the  debate  ;  who,  for  the  sake 
of  his  Cyprian  commission,  thought  himself  obliged 
to  defend  their  legality  against  Cicero ;  which 
created  some  little  coldness  between  them,  and 
gave  no  small  pleasure  to  the  common  enemies  of 
them  both.t 

*  Tusculanum   proscripsi :  suburbano  non   facile   careo. — Caetera, 
quae  me  solicitant,  ^t/o-T/jtargga  sunt.     Amainur  a  fratre  et  filia.     lb. 

t  Plutarch  in  Cic.  Dio.  p.  100. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  25 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 


But  Cicero's  chief  concern  at  present  was,  how 
to  support  his  former  authority  in  the  city,  and 
provide  for  his  future  safety ;  as  well  against  the 
malice  of  declared  enemies,  as  the  envy  of  pre- 
tended friends,  which  he  perceived  to  be  growing 
up  afresh  against  him  :  he  had  thoughts  of  putting 
in  for  the  censorship  ;  or  of  procuring  one  of  those 
honorary  Lieutenancies,  which  gave  a  publick 
character  to  private  senators ;  with  intent  to  make 
a  progress  through  Italy,  or  a  kind  of  religious 
pilgrimage  to  all  the  temples,  groves  and  sacred 
places,  on  pretence  of  a  vow  made  in  his  exile. 
This  would  give  him  an  opportunity  of  shewing 
himself  every  where  in  a  light  which  naturally 
attracts  the  affection  of  the  multitude,  by  testify- 
ing a  pious  regard  to  the  favourite  superstitions 
and  local  religions  of  the  country ;  as  the  great,  in 
the  same  country,  still  pay  their  court  to  the  vul- 
gar, by  visiting  the  shrines  and  altars  of  the  saints 
which  are  most  in  vogue  :  he  mentions  these  pro- 
jects to  Atticus,  as  designed  to  be  executed  in  the 
spring,  resolving  in  the  mean  while  to  cherish 
the  good  inclination  of  the  people  towards  him,  by 
keeping  himself  perpetually  in  the  view  of  the 
city.=^ 

Catulus's  portico,  and  Cicero's  house  were  ris- 
ing again  apace  and  carried  up  almost  to  the  roof; 
when  Clodius,  without  any  warning,  attacked  them, 
on  the  second  of  November,  with  a  band  of  armed 
men,  Avho  demolished  the  portico,  and  drove  the 


*  Ut  nuila  re  impedirer.  quod  nisi  vellera,  milii  esset  integrum,  aut 
si  comitia  censorura  proximi  consules  haberent,  petere  posse,  aut 
votivam  legationem  sumsisse  prope  omniunri  lanoruni,  ar  Jncoruni 
Ad  Att.  4.  2. 

TOL.    IT.  4 


26  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  696.   Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

workmen  out  of  Cicero's  ground  and  with  the 
stones  and  rubbish  of  the  place  began  to  batter 
Cluintus's  house,  with  whom  Cicero  then  lived, 
and  at  last  set  fire  to  it ;  so  that  the  two  brothers, 
with  their  families,  were  forced  to  save  themselves 
by  a  hasty  flight.  Milo  had  already  accused  Clo~ 
dius  for  his  former  violences,  and  resolved,  if  pos- 
sible, to  bring  him  to  justice:  Clodius,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  suing  for  the  Aedileship,  to  secure 
himself,  for  one  year  more  at  least,  from  any  pro- 
secution :  he  was  sure  of  being  condemned,  if  ever 
he  w^as  brought  to  trial,  so  that  whatever  mis- 
chief he  did  in  the  mean  time  was  all  clear  gain, 
and  could  not  make  his  cause  the  worse  :^  he  now 
therefore  gave  a  free  course  to  his  natural  fury ; 
was  perpetually  scouring  the  streets  with  his  in- 
cendiaries, and  threatening  fire  and  sword  to  the 
city  itself,  if  an  assembly  was^  not  called  for  the 
election  of  aediles.  In  this  humour,  about  a  week 
after -his  last  outrage,  on  the  eleventh  of  Novem- 
ber, happening  to  meet  with  Cicero,  in  the  sacred 
street,  he  presently  assaulted  him  with  stones, 
clubs,  and  drawn  swords  :  Cicero  was  not  prepared 
for  the  encQunter,  and  took  refuge  in  the  vestibule 
of  the  next  house  ;  where  his  attendants  rallying 
in  his  defence,  beat  off  the  assailants,  and  could 
easily  have  killed  their  leader,  but  that  Cicero 
was  willing,  he  says,  to  cure  by  diet,  rather  than 
surgery.     The  day  following  Clodius  attacked  Mi~ 

*  Armatis  hoininibus  ante  diem  III.  Non.  Noveinb.  expuisi  sunt 
fabri  de  area  nostra,  disturbata  portions  CatiiU — Uiiao  ad  tectum 
paene  pervenerat.  Quint i  fratris  domns  primo  (Vacta  conjectu  fapi- 
dum,   ex   area  nostra,  deinde  jussu   Clodii    inflammaia.    in>^pectaote 

urbe,  conjectis  ignibus.- Videt,  si  onuies  quos  vult  palam  occi- 

derit,  nihilo  suam  causam  difficiliorem,  quara  adhnc   sit,  in  judicio 
fnturam.— Ad  Att.  4.  3. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  2r 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec  Metel.  Nepos. 


lo's  house,  with  sword  in  hand  and  lighted  flam- 
beaus, with  intent  to  storm  and  burn  it  :  but  Milo 
was  never  unprovided  for  him  ;  and  Q,,  Flaccus, 
sallying  out  with  a  strong  band  of  stout  fellows, 
killed  several  of  his  men,  and  would  have  killed 
Clodius  too,  if  he  had  not  hid  himself  in  the  inner 
apartments  of  P.  Sylla's  house,  which  he  made  use 
of  on  this  occasion  as  his  fortress."^ 

The  senate  met,  on  the  fourteenth,  to  take  these 
disorders  into  consideration ;  Clodius  did  not  think 
fit  to  appear  there  ;  but  Sylla  came,  to  clear  himself 
probably  from  the  suspicion  of  encouraging  him  in 
these  violences,  on  account  of  the  freedom,  which 
he  had  taken  with  his  house.f  Many  severe 
speeches  were  made,  and  vigorous  counsels  propos- 
ed ;  MarcelUnus's  opinion  was,  that  Clodius  should 
be  impeached  anew  for  these  last  outrages;  and 
that  no  election  of  aediles  should  be  suffered,  till 
he  was  brought  to  a  trial :  Milo  declared,  that  as 
long  as-  he  continued  in  office  tlie  consul  Metellus 
should  make  no  election :  for  he  would  take  the 
auspices  every  day,  on  which  an  assembly  could 
be  held  ;  but  Metellus  contrived  to  waste  the  day  in 
speaking,  so  that  they  w^ere  forced  to  break  up 
withont  making  any  decree.  Milo  was  as  good  as 
his  word,  and,  having  gathered  a  superiour  force, 

*  Ante  diem  tertiuin  Id.  Novcmb.  eum  sacra  via  descenderem, 
insecutiis  est  me  cum  suis.  Clamor,  lapides,  fiistes,  gladii ;  haec  ira- 
provisa  omnia.  Diseessiraus  in  vestibuhira  Tetii  Daraionis :  qui  erant 
mecum  facile  operas  aditu  prohibuenint.  Ipse  occidi  potuit ;  sed 
ego  diaeta  curare  incipio,  chirurgiae  taedet. — MJJonis  donnira  prid. 
id.  expugnare  et  incendere  ita  conatus  est,  ut  palam  hora  quinta  cum 
scutis  homines,  eductis  gladiis,  alios  cum  accensis  i'acibus  adduxerit. 
Ipse  domum  P.  Syllae  pro  castris  ad  earn  impngnationem  sumpserat, 
&c.     Ad  Att.  4. '3. 

f  Sylla  se  in  senatu  postridie  Idus,  domi  Clodius.  Tb, 


28  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Uib.  696.    Cic.  SO.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

took  care  to  obstruct  the  election ;  though  the  con- 
sul Metellus  employed  all  his  power  and  art  to 
elude  his  vigilance,  and  procure  an  assembly  by 
stratagem  -,  calling  it  to  one  place,  and  holding  it  in 
another,  sometimes  in  the  field  of  Mars,  sometimes 
in  the  forum ;  but  Milo  was  ever  before  hand  with 
him ;  and,  keeping  a  constant  guard  in  the  field 
from  midnight  to  noon,  was  always  at  hand  to  in- 
hibit his  proceedings,  by  obnouncing,  as  it  was  call- 
ed, or  declaring,  that  he  was  taking  the  auspices 
on  that  day ;  so  that  the  three  brothers  were  baf- 
fled and  disappointed,  though  they  were  perpetu- 
ally haranguing  and  labouring  to  intlame  the  peo- 
ple against  Ihose,  who  interrupted  their  assemblies 
and  right  of  electing;  where  Meteilus's  speeches 
were  turbulent,  Appius's  rash,Clodius's  furious.  Ci- 
cero, who  gives  this  account  to  Atticus,  was  of  opi- 
nion that  there  would  be  no  election ;  and  that  Clo- 
dius  w^ould  be  broui^ht  to  trial,  if  he  was  not  first 
killed  by  Milo ;  which  was  likely  to  be  his  fate : 
"  Milo,"  says  he,  "  makes  no  scruple  to  own  it ; 
"  being  not  deterred  by  my  misfortune,  and  having 
"  no  envious  or  peifidious  counsellors  about  him, 
"  nor  any  iazy  nobles  to  discourage  him  :  it  is  com- 
"  monly  given  out  by  the  other  side,  that  what  he 
"  does,  is  all  done  by  my  advice ;  but  they  little 
"  know  how^  much  conduct,  as  well  as  courage, 
"there  is  in  this  hero."* 


*  Egregins  IVTarcellinus,  omnes  acres;  Metellus  calainnia  dicendi 
tempiis  exeniit :  conciones  tiirhulentae  JMetelli,  tem^rariae  Appii,  fu- 
riosissimae  Clodii  :  haec  tainentsumnia,  nisi  Milo  in  campuin  obnun- 
cias«et,  comilia  f'utura. — Comitia  fore  nou  arbitror;  reuni  Publium, 
nisi  ante  occisu5j  erit,  fore  a  Milone  puto.  Si  se  inter  viam  obtulerit, 
occisnm  iri  ab  ipso  Milone  video.  Non  dubitat  facere;  prae  se  fert; 
casuni  ilium  nostrum  non  extimescit,  etc. 

Meo  consilio  omnia  illi  fieri  querebantur,  ignari  quantum  in  iH© 
heroe  esset  animi,  quantum  etiara  consilii. — Ad  Att.  4.3, 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  29 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Ctps,— P.  Com.  Lojt.  Spintber.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

Young  Lentulus,  the  son  of  the  consul,  was,  by 
the  interest  of  his  father,  and  the  recommendation 
of  his  noble  birth,  chosen  into  the  college  of  augurs 
this  summer,  though  not  yet  seventeen  years  old ; 
having  but  just  changed  his  puerile  for  the  manly 
gown  :*  Cicero  was  invited  to  the  inauguration 
feast,  w^here,  by  eating  too  freely  of  some  vegeta- 
bles, which  happened  to  please  his  palate,  he  was 
seiz9d  with  a  violent  pain  of  the  bowels,  and  diar- 
rhaea ;  of  which  he  sends  the  following  account  to  his 
friend  Gall  us. 


"  Cicero  to  Gallus. 

"  After  I  had  been  labouring  for  ten  days,  with 
"  a  cruel  disorder  in  my  bowels,  yet  could  not  con- 
''  vince  those,  who  wanted  me  at  the  bar,  that  I  was 
"  ill,  because  I  had  no  fever,  I  ran  away  to  Tuscu- 
"  lum  ;  having  kept  so  strict  a  fast  for  two  days  be- 
"  fore,  that  I  did  not  taste  so  much  as  water  :  being 
"  worn  out  therefore  with  illness  and  fasting,  I 
*'  wanted  rather  to  see  you,  than  imagined  that  you 
"  expected  a  visit  from  me  ;  for  my  part,  I  am 
"  afraid,  I  confess,  of  all  distempers  ;  but  especially 
"  of  those,  for  which  the  Stoicks  abuse  your  Epi- 
"  curus,  when  he  complains  of  the  strangury  and 

N.  B.  From  these  facts  it  appears,  that  what  is  said  above,  of 
Aelian  and  Fusian  Jaws,  and  prohibiting  the  magistrates  from  ob- 
structing the  assemhiies  of  the  people,  is  to  be  understood  only  in 
a  partial  sense,  and  that  his  new  law  extended  no  farther,  than  to 
hinder  the  magistrates  from  dissolving  an  assembly,  after  it  was  ac- 
tually convened  and  had  entered  upon  business  ;  for  it  was  still  unlaw- 
ful, we  see,  to  convene  an  assembly,  while  the  magistrate  was  in  the 
act  of  observing  the  heavens. 

*  Cui  superior  annus  idem  et  virilem  patris  et  praetextam  populi 
judicio  togara  dederit.— Pr.  Sext.  79.  it.  Dio.  I.  39.  p.  09. 


30  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  vi, 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q   Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 


"  dysentery  ;  the  one  of  which  they  take  to  be  the 
"  effect  of  ghittony ;  the  other  of  a  more  scanda- 
"  lous  intemperance.     I  was  apprehensive  indeed 
"  of  a  dysentery ;  but  seem  to  have  found  benefit, 
"  either  from  the  change  of  air,  or  the  relaxation  of 
"  my  mind,  or  the  remission  of  the  disease  itself: 
"  but  that  you  may  not  be  surprized   how   this 
^'  should  happen,  and  what  I  have  been  doing  to 
"  bring  it  upon  me  ;   the  sumptuary  law,   which 
*'  seems  to  introduce  a  simplicity  of  diet,  did  me 
"  all  this  mischief.     For  since  our  men  of  taste  are 
"  grown  so  fond  of  covering  their  tables  with  the 
''  productions  of  the  earth,  which  are  excepted  by 
«'  the  law,  they  have  found  a  Avay  of  dressing  mush- 
"  rooms  and  all  other  vegetables  so  palatably,  that 
"  nothing  can  be  more  delicious :  I  happened  to 
"  fall  upon  these  at  Lentulus's  augural  supper,  and 
"  was  taken  with  so  violent  a  flux,  that  this  is  the 
"  first  day  on  which  it  has  begun  to  give  me  any 
"  ease.     Thus  I,  who  used  to  command  myself  so 
"  easily  in  oysters  and  lampreys,  was  caught  with 
'*  beets  and  mallows ;  but  I  shall  be  more  cautious 
"  for  the  future  :  you-  however,  who  must  have 
"  heard  of-my  illness  from  Anicius,  for  he  saw  me 
"  in  a  fit  of  vomiting,  had  a  just  reason,  not  only 
"  for  sending,  but  for  coming  yourself  to  see  me. 
"  I  think  to  stay  here,  till  I  recruit  myself;  for  I 
"  have  lost  both  my  strength  and  my  flesh  ;  but  if  I 
"  once  get  rid  of  my  distemper,  it  will  be  easy,  I 
"  hope,  to  recover  the  rest."^ 

*  Ep.  Fam.  7.  2G. 

N.  B.  Pliny  says,  that  the  colum,  by  which  he  is  supposed  to  mean 
the  cholick,  was  not  known  at  Rome  till  the  reign  of  Tiberius  :  but 
the  case  described  in  this  letter  seems  to  come  so  very  near  to  it  that 
he  must  be  understood,  rather  of  the  name,  than  of  the  thing;  as  the 
learned  Dr.  Lc  Clerc  has  observed  in  his  history  of  medicine. — PHn.  Ic 
26.  1.  Le  Cler.  Hist.  par.  2.  1.  4.  sect.  2.  c.  4. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  31 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  SO.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 


King  Ptolemy  left  Rome  about  this  time,  after 
he  had  distributed  immense  sums  among  the  great, 
to   purchase   his   restoration  by  a   Roman  army. 
The  people  of  Aegypt  had  sent  deputies  also  after 
him,  to  plead  their  cause  before  the  senate,  and  to 
explain  the  reasons  of  their  expelling  him  ;  but  the 
king  contrived  to  get  them  all  assassinated  on  the 
road,  before  they  reached  the  city.     This  piece  of 
villany,  and  the  notion  of  his  having  bribed  all  the 
magistrates,  had  raised  so  general  an  aversion  to 
him  among  the  people,  that  he  found  it  advisable 
to  quit  the  city,  and  leave  the  management  of  his 
interest  to  his  agents.     The  consul  Lentulus,  who 
had  obtained  the  province  of  Cilicia  and  Cyprus, 
whither  he  was  preparing  to  set  forward,  was  very 
desirous  to  be  charged  with  the  commission  of  re- 
placing  him   on   the   throne  ;   for   which   he   had 
already  procured  a  vote  of  the  senate  :  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  command,  almost  in  sight  of  Aegypt, 
made  him  generally  thought  to  have  the  best  pre- 
tensions to  that  charge  ;  and  he  was  assured  of  Ci- 
cero's warm  assistance  in  soliciting  the  confirmation 
of  it. 

In  this  situation  of  affairs,  the  new  tribunes  en- 
tered into  office  :  C.  Cato,  of  the  same  family  with 
his  namesake  Marcus,  was  one  of  the  number ;  a 
bold  turbulent  man,  of  no  temper  or  prudence,  yet 
a  tolerable  speaker,  and  generally  on  the  belter 
side  in  politicks.  Before  he  had  borne  any  pub- 
lick  office,  he  attempted  to  impeach  Gabinius  of 
bribery  and  corruption  ;  but  not  being  able  to  get 

The  mention  likewise  of  the  J'-jo-cv^im  7rttb»,  or  the  strangury  of  Epi- 
curus, and  the  censure  which  thi^  >loicks  passed  upon  it,  would  make 
one  apt  to  suspect,  that  some  disorders  of  a  venereal  kind  were  not 
unknown  to  the  ancients. 


32  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  vi, 

A.  Ui-b.  696.    Cic  50.    Coss.— P.  Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caec.  Metel.  Nepos. 

an  audience  of  the  praetors,  he  had  the  hardiness 
to  mount  the  rostra,  which  was  never  allowed  to  a 
private  citizen,  and,  in  a  speech  to  the  people,  de- 
clared Pompey  dictator  :  but  his  presumption  had 
like  to  have  cost  him  dear ;  for  it  raised  such  an 
indignation  in  the  audience,  that  he  had  much  diffi- 
culty to  escape  with  his  life.^  He  opened  his  pre- 
sent magistracy  by  declaring  loudly  against  king 
Ptolemy,  and  all  who  favoured  him,  especially 
Lentulus,  whom  he  supposed  to  be  under  some  pri- 
vate engagement  with  him,  and,  for  that  reason, 
was  determined  to  baffle  all  their  schemes. 

Lupus  likewise,  one  of  his  colleagues,  summon- 
ed the  senate,  and  raised  an  expectation  of  some 
uncommon  proposal  for  him  :  it  was  indeed  of  an 
extraordinary  nature ;  to  revise  and  annul  that 
famed  act  of  Caesar's  consulship,  for  the  division 
of  the  Campanian  lands :  he  spoke  long  and  well 
upon' it,  and  was  heard  with  much  attention  ;  gave 
great  praises  to  Cicero,  w  ith  severe  reflections  on 
Caesar,  and  expostulations  with  Pompey,  who  was 
now  abroad  in  the  execution  of  his  late  commis- 
sion :  in  tim  conclusion  he  told  them,  that  he  would 
not  demand  the  opinions  of  the  particular  senators, 
because  he  had  no  mind  to  expose  them  to  the  re- 
sentment and  animosity  of  any ;  but  from  the  ill 
humour,  which  he  remembered,  when  that  act  first 
passed,  and  the  favour  with  which  he  was  now 
heard,  he  could  easily  collect  the  sense  of  the 
house.      Upon  which  Marcellinus  said,  "  that  he 


*  Ut  Cato,  adolescens  nulliiis  consilii, — vix  vivus  effiigeret;  quod 
cum  Gabinium  de  arabitu  vellet  postulare,  neque  praetores  dlebus  ali- 
quot adiri  possent,  vel  potcstatein  sui  facerent,  in  concionem  adscen- 
dit,  et  Pompeium  privatus  dictatorem  appellavit.  Propius  nihil  est 
factum,  quam  ut  occiderctur.     Ep.  ad  Quint,  Frat.  1.  2. 


SKCT.  VI.  CICERO.  33 

A.  Urb.  696.    Cic,  50.    Coss.—P.*  Com.  hem.  Spinthei-.    q.  Caec  Metel.  Nepos. 

"  must  not  conclude,  from  their  silence,  either  what 
"  they  liked  or  disliked :  that  for  his  own  part, 
"  and  he  might  answ^er,  too,  he  believed,  for  the 
"  rest,  he  chose  to  say  nothing  on  the  subject  at 
"  present,  because  he  thought  that  the  cause  of 
"the  Campanian  lands  ought  not  to  be  brought 
"  upon  the  stage  in  Pompey's  absence." 

This  affair  being  dropt,  Racilius,  another  tri- 
bune, rose  up  and  renewed  the  debate  about  IMilo's 
impeachment  of  Clodius,  and  called  upon  Mar- 
cellinus,  the  consul-elect,  to  give  his  opinion  upon 
it ;  who,  after  inveighing  against  all  the  violences 
of  Clodius,  proposed,  that,  in  the  first  place,  an 
allotment  of  judges  should  be  made  for  the  trial ; 
and  after  that,  the  election  of  aediles ;  and,  if 
any  one  attempted  to  hinder  the  trial,  that  he 
should  be  deemed  a  publick  enemy.  The  other 
consul-elect,  Philippus,  was  of  the  same  mind ; 
but  the  tribunes,  Cato  and  Cassius,  spoke  against 
it,  and  were  for  proceeding  to  an  election  before 
any  step  towards  a  trial.  When  Cicero  was  call- 
ed upon  to  speak,  he  ran  through  the  whole  se- 
ries of  Clodius's  extravagancies,  as  if  he  had  been 
accusing  him  already  at  the  bar,  to  the  great  sa- 
tisfaction of  the  assembly  :  Antistius,  the  tribune, 
seconded  him,  and  declared,  that  no  business 
should  be  done  before  the  trial  ;  and  when  the 
house  was  going  universally  into  that  opinion, 
Clodius  began  to  speak,  with  intent  to  waste  the 
rest  of  tlie  day,  while  his  slaves  and  follow  ers  with- 
out, who  had  seized  the  steps  and  avenues  of  the 
senate,  raised  so  great  a  noise,  of  a  sudden,  in 
abusing:  some  of   Milo's  friends,  that  the    senate 

VOL.    II.  «'> 


34  THE   LIFE   OP  sect,  vf. 


A.  Urb.  696.    Cic.  50.    Coss.— P.    Com.  Lent.  Spinther.    Q.  Caee.  Metel.  Nepos. 


broke  up  in  no  small  hurry,  and  with  fresh  indigna- 
tion at  this  new  insult/^ 

There  was  no  more  business  done  through  the 
remaining  part  of  December,  wliich  w^as  taken 
up  chiefly,  with  holydays.  Lentulus  and  Metel- 
lus,  whose  consulship  expired  with  the  year,  set 
forward  for  their  several  governments  ;  the  one 
for  Cilicia,  the  other  for  Spain  ;  Lentulus  com- 
mitted the  whole  direction  of  his  affairs  to  Cicero  ; 
and  Metellus,  unwilling  to  leave  him  his  enemy, 
made  up  all  matters  with  tiim  before  his  depart- 
ure, and  wrote  an  affectionate  letter  to  him  af- 
terwards from  Spain ;  in  which  he  acknowledges 
his  services,  and  intimates,  that  he  had  given  up 
hi«i  brother  Clodius,  in  exchange  for  his  friend- 
ship.t 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

Cicero's^^first  concern,  on  the  opening  of  the 
new  year,  was  to  get  the  commission,  for  restor- 
ing king  Ptolemy,  confirmed  to  Lentulus  ;  which 
come  now  under  deliberation :  the  tribune,  Cato, 
was  fierce  against  restoring  him  at  all,  with   the 

*  Tnm  Clodius  rogatiis  diem  dicendo  exiinere  coepit — deinde  ejus 
operae  repente  a  Graecostasi  et  gradihus  elamorem  satis  magnum  sus- 
tulerunt,  opinor  in  Q.  Sextilitfrn  et  amicos  3.*il(:nis  incitatae;  eo 
metu  injecto  repente  magna  querimonia  omnium  discessimus.  Ad 
Quint.  Fr.  2.  1. 

t  Libenterque  comrautata  persona,  te  mihi  fratris  loco  esse  duco 
Ep.  Fam.  5.  3. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  35 

A,  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcelliniis.    L.  Rfar.  Philippus. 

greatest  part  of  the  senate  on  his  side ;  when 
taking  occasion  to  consult  the  Sibylline  books,  on 
the  subject  of  some  late  prodigies,  he  chanced  to 
find  in  them  certain  verses,  forewarning  the  Ro- 
man people,  not  to  replace  an  exiled  king  of 
Egypt  with  an  army.  This  was  so  pat  to  his 
purpose,  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  its  being 
forged ;  but  Cato  called  up  the  guardians  of  the 
books  into  the  rostra,  to  testify  the  passage  to  be 
genuine  ;  where  it  was  publickly  read  and  ex- 
plained to  the  people  :  it  was  laid  also  before  the 
senate,  w^ho  greedily  received  it;  and,  after  a 
grave  debate  on  this  scruple  of  religion,  came  to 
a  resolution  that  it  seemed  dangerous  to  the  re- 
publick,  that  the  king  should  be  restored  by  a 
multitude.^  It  cannot  be  imagined,  that  they  laid 
any  real  stress  on  this  admonition  of  the  Sibyl, 
for  there  was  not  a  man  either  in  or  out  of  the 
house,  who  did  not  take  it  for  a  fiction:  but  it 
was  a  fair  pretext  for  defeating  a  project  which 
was  generally  disliked :  They  were  unwilling  to 
gratify  any  man's  ambition,  of  visitjng  the  rich 
country  of  Egypt,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and 
persuaded,  that  without  an  army,  no  man  would  be 
solicitous  about  going  thither  at  all.f 

This  point  being  settled,  the  next  question  was, 
in  what  manner  the  king  should  be  restored :  va- 

*  Senatus  religionis  calumniam,  non  religione,  sed  malevolentia, 
et  illius  jegiae  largitionis  iovidia  comprobat. — Ep.  Fam.  1.1. 

De  Rege  Alexandrino  factum  est  S.  C.  cummultitudine  eurn  reduci, 
periculosura  reipub.  videri. — Ad  Quint.  Fr.  2.  2. 

f  Haec  Lamen  opinio  est  populi  Roman!,  a  tuis  invidis  atquc  ob- 
trectatoribus  nomen  inductum  fictae  religionis,  non  tam  ut  te  impe- 
diient.  quam  ut  nequis,  propter  exercitus  eupiditatem,  Alexandriam 
vellet  ire.    Ep.  Fam.  1.  4. 


36  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vi 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

rious  opinions  were  proposed ;  Crassus  moved, 
that  three  ambassadours,  chosen  from  those  who 
had  some  publick  command,  should  be  sent  on 
the  errand ;  which  did  not  exclude  Pompey :  Bi- 
bulus  proposed,  that  three  private  senators ;  and 
Volcatius,  that  Pompey  alone  should  be  charged 
with  it :  but  Cicero,  Hortensius,  and  LucuUus 
urged,  that  Leiitulus,  to  whom  the  senate  had  al- 
ready decreed  it,  and  who  could  execute  it  with 
most  convenience,  should  restore  him  without  an 
army.  The  two  first  opinions  were  soon  over- 
ruled, and  the  strugsile.  lay  between  Lentulus  and 
Pompey.  Cicero,  though  he  had  some  reason  to 
complain  of  Lentulus,  since  his  return,  particu- 
larly for  the  contemptible  valuation  of  his  houses, 
yet,  for  the  great  part  which  he  had  borne  in  re- 
storing him,  was  very  desirous  to  shew  his  gra- 
titude, and  resolved  to  support  him  with  all  his 
authority :  Pompey,  who  had  obligations  also  to 
Lentulus,  acted  the  same  part  towards  him,  which 
he  had  done  before  towards  Cicero;  by  his  own 
conduct  and  professions,  he  seemed  to  have  Len- 
tulus's  interest  at  heart ;  yet,  by  the  conduct  of 
all  his  fri^ends,  seemed  desirous  to  procure  the 
employment  for  himself;  while  the  king's  agents 
and  creditors,  fancying  that  their  business  would  be 
served  the  most  effectually  by  Pompey,  began 
openly  to  solicit,  and  even  to  bribe  for  him.'^     But 


*  Crassus  tres  legatos  deccrnit,  nee  excludit  Pompeiura  :  censet 
enimetiam  ex  iis,  qui  enin  impqrio  sunt.  M.  Bibulus  tres  legatos  ex 
iis,  qui  privati  sunt.  Huic  assfentiuntur  reliqui  consulares,  praeter 
Servilinm,  qui  omnino  reduci  negat  oportere,  et  Volcatium,  qui  de- 
cernit  I'ompeio. 

Hortcnsii  et  mea  et  Luculli  sententia — Ex  illo  S.  C.  quod  te  refe- 
rente  factum  est,  tibi  decernit,  ut  reducas  regem. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  37 


A.  XJrb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.--Cn.  Com.  Leut.  Jlarcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

the  senate,  through  Cicero's  influence,  stood  gene- 
rally inclined  to  Lentulus ;  and,  after  a  debate, 
which  ended  in  his  favour,  Cicero,  who  had  been 
the  manager  of  it,  happening  to  sup  with  Pom- 
pey  that  evening,  took  occasion  to  press  hiin,  with 
much  freedom,  not  to  suffer  his  name  to  be  used 
in  this  competition ;  nor  give  a  handle  to  his  ene- 
mies, for  reproaching  him  with  the  desertion  of 
a  friend,  as  well  as  an  ambition  of  engrossing  all 
power  to  himself.  Pompey  seemed  touched  with 
the  remonstrance,  and  professed  to  have  no  other 
thought,  but  of  serving  Lentulus,  while  his  de- 
pendents continued  still  to  act  so,  as  to  convince 
every  body  that  he  could  not  be  sincere.^ 

When  Lentulus's  pretensions  seemed  to  be  in  a 
hopeful  way,  C.  Cato  took  a  new  and  effectual 
method  to  disappoint  them,  by  proposing  a  law  to 
the  people,  for  taking  away  his  government  and 
recalling  him  home.  This  stroke  surprised  every 
body  ;  the  senate  condemned  it  as  factious ;  and 
Lentulus's  son  changed  his  habit  upon  it,  in  order 

Regis  causa  si  qui  sunt  qui  velint,  qui  pauci  sunt,  omnes  rem  ad 
Pompeiura  deferri  volunt.     Ep.  Fam.  1.1. 

Reliqua  cum  esset  in  senatu  contentio,  Lentulusne  an  Pompeius  re- 
ducevet,  obtinere  causara  Lentulus  videbatur.  In  ea  re  Pompeius 
quid  velit  non  despicio  :  familiares  ejus  quid  cupiant,  omnes  vident. 
Creditores  vero  regis  aperte  pecunias  suppeditant  contra  Lentulum. 
Sine  dubio  res  remota  a  Lentulo  videtur,  cum  magno  raeo  dolore : 
quaraquam  raulta  fecit,  quare  si  fas  esset,  jure  ei  succensere  possemus. 
Ad  auin.  Fr.  2.  2. 

*  Ego  eo  die  casu  apud  Pompeium  caenavi :  nactnsque  tempns  hoc 
magis  idoneum,  quam  unquam  antea  post  tuum  dicessum,  is  enim 
dies  houestissimus  nobis  fuerat  in  senatu,  ita  sum  cum  illo  locutus,  ut 
mihi  viderer  animum  hominis  ab  omni  alia  cogitatione  ad  tuam  di<^- 
nitatem  tuendam  traducere  :  quem  ego  ipsum  cum  audio,  prorsus  cum 
libero  omni  suspicione  cupiditatis :  cum  autem  ejus  familiares,  omni- 
um ordinum,  video,  perspicio,  id  quod  jam  omnibus  est  apertum,  to- 
tara  rem  istam  jam  pridem  a  certis  hominibus,  non  invito  rege  ipso— 
esse  corruptam.     Ep.  Fam.  1.  2. 


38  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Maroellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

to  move  the  citizens,  and  hinder  their  offering  such 
an  affront  to  his  father.  Fhe  tribune,  ( 'aninius, 
proposed  another  law,  at  the  same  time,  for  send- 
ing Pompey  to  Egypt :  but  this  pleased  no  bet- 
ter than  the  other ;  and  the  consuls  contrived,  that 
neither  of  them  should  be  brought  to  the  suffrage 
of  the  people.^  These  new  contests  gave  a  fresh 
interruption  to  Ptolemy's  cause  ;  in  which  Cicero's 
resolution  was,  if  the  commission  could  not  be  ob- 
tained for  Lentulus,  to  prevent  its  being  granted 
at  least  to  Pompey,  and  save  themselves  the  dis- 
grace of  being  baffled  by  a  competitor  -.f  but  the 
senate  was  grow^n  so  sick  of  the  whole  affair,  that 
they  resolved  to  leave  the  king  to  shift  for  him- 
self, without  interposing  at  all  in  his  restoration ; 
and  so  the  matter  hung  ;  whilst  other  affairs,  more 
interesting,  were  daily  rising  up  at  home,  and  en- 
gaging the  attention  of  the  city. 

The  election  of  aediles,  which  had  been  indus- 
triously postponed  through  all  the  last  summer, 
could  not  easily  be  kept  off  any  longer :  the  city- 
was  impatient  for  its  magistrates ;  and  especially 
for  the  pl«^s  and  shews  with  which  they  used  to 
entertain  them ;  and  several  also  of  the  new  tri- 
bunes being  zealous  for  an  election,  it  was  held,  at 


*  Nos  cum  raaxime  consilio,  studio,  labore,  gratia,  de  causa  regia 
niteremur,  subito  exorta  est  nefaria  Catonis  promulgatio,  quae  studia 
nostra  impediret,  et  animos  a  minore  cura  ad  sumraum  timorem  tra- 
duceret.     Ibid.  5. 

■Suspicor  per  vim  rogationem  Caniniura  perlaturum.  Ad  Quint. 
2.2.  ; 

f  Sed  vereor  ne  aut  eripiatur  nobis  causa  regia,  aut  deseratur.  Sed 
si  res  coget,  est  quiddam  tertium,  quod  non — mihi  displicebat  ;  ut 
neque  jacere  regem  patereraur,  nee  nobis  repuguantibus,  ad  eum  de- 
ferri,  ad  quem  prope  jam  delatum  videtur.  Ne,  si  quid  non  obtinqe- 
rimus,  repulsi  esse  videamur.     Ep.  Fam.  1.  5. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  39 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinas.  L,  Mar.  Hiilippus. 


last,  on  the  twentieth  of  January ;  when  Clodius 
was  chosen  aedile,  without  any  opposition  ;  so  that 
Cicero  began  once  more  to  put  himself  upon  his 
guard,  from  the  certain  expectation  of  a  furious  ae- 
dileship.^ 

It  may  justly  seem  strange,  how  a  man  so  profli- 
gate and  criminal  as  Clodius,  whose  life  was  a  per- 
petual insult  on  all  laws,  divine  and  human,  should 
be  suffered  not  only  to  live  without  punishment, 
but  to  obtain  all  the  honours  of  a  free  city  in  their 
proper  course ;  and  it  would  be  natural  to  suspect, 
that  we  had  been  deceived  in  our  accounts  of 
him,  by  taking  them  from  his  enemies,  did  we  not 
find  them  too  firmly  supported  by  facts  to  be  call- 
ed in  question :  but  a  little  attention  to  the  par- 
ticular character  of  the  man,  as  well  as  of  the 
times  in  which  he  lived,  will  enable  us  to  solve  the 
difficulty.  First,  the  splendour  of  his  family, 
which  had  born  a  principal  share  in  all  the  tri- 
umphs of  the  republick,  from  the  very  foundation 
of  its  liberty,  was  of  great  force  to  protect  him 
in  all  his  extravagancies:  those,  who  know  anv 
thing  of  Rome,  know  what  a  strong  impre^ssion 
this,  single  circumstance  of  illustrious  nobility 
would  necessarily  make  upon  the  people  ;  Cicero 
calls  the  nobles  of  this  class,  praetors  and  consuls 
elect  from  their  cradles,  by  a  kind  of  hereditary 
right ;  whose  very  names  were  sufficient  to  ad- 
vance them  to  all  the  di^rnities  of  the  state.t     Se- 


*  Sed  omnia  fiunt  lardiora  propter  furiosae  aedilitatis  expectatio- 
nem.     Ad  Quint.  2.  2. 

t  Non  idem  mihi  licet,  quod  iis,  qui  nobili  geiiere  nati  sunt,  qui- 
bus  omnia  populi  Koraani  beneficia  dormientibus  delerunlur. — In 
Verr.  5.  70. 

Erat  nobilitate  ipsa,  blanda  conciliatrieula  commendatus.  Oraoes 
semper  boui  nobilitali  tavemus,  &c. — Pr.  Sext.  9. 


40  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.     Coss— Cn.  Com.  Lait.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

condly,  his  personal  qualities  were  peculiarly  adapt- 
ed to  endear  him  to  all  the  meaner  sort :  his  bold 
and  ready  wit ;  his  talent  at  haranguing ;  his  pro- 
fuse expense  ;  and  his  being  the  first  of  the  fami- 
ly who  had  pursued  popular  measures,  against  the 
maxims  of  his  ancestors,  who  were  all  stern  asser- 
tors  of  the  aristocratical  power.  Thirdly,  the  con- 
trast of  opposite  factions,  who  had  each  their  ends 
in  supporting  him,  contributed  principally  to  his 
safety :  the  triumvirate  willingly  permitted  and 
privately  encouraged  his  violences;  to  make  their 
own  power  not  only  the  less  odious,  but  even 
necessary,  for  controlling  the  fury  of  such  an  in- 
cendiary ;  and  though  it  was  often  turned  against 
themselves,  yet  they  chose  to  bear  it,  and  dissem- 
ble their  ability  of  repelling  it,  rather  than  de- 
stroy the  man  who  was  playing  their  game  for 
them,  and,  by  throwing  the  republick  into  confusion, 
throwing  it  of  course  into  their  hands  :  the  senate, 
on  the  other  side,  whose  chief  apprehensions  were 
from  the  triumvirate,  thought,  that  the  rashness  of 
Clodius  might  be  of  some  use  to  perplex  their 
measures,  and  stir  up  the  people  against  them  on 
proper  oc^j^sions  ;  or  it  humoured  their  spleen,  at 
least,  to  see  him  often  insulting  Pompey  to  his 
face.^  Lastly,  all,  who  envied  Cicero,  and  desired 
to  lessen  his  authority,  privately  cherished  an  ene- 
my, who  employed  all  his  force  to  drive  him  from 
the  administration  of  affairs  :  this  accidental  con- 


*  Videtis  igitur  hominein  per  seipsum  jam  pridera  afflictiira  ac  ja- 
centem,  perniciosis  Optiraatiuin^  discordiis  excitari. — Ne  a  republica 
reipub.  pestis  amoveretiir,  restiterunt  :  etiam,  ue  causain  diceret  : 
etiam,  ne  privatus  esset :  eliamne  in  sinu  atque  in  deliciis  quidam  op- 
timi  viri  viperain  illam  venenalani  ac  pestiferam  habere  potuerunt? 
Quo  tandem  decepti  inunere  ?  Volo,  inquiunt,  esse  qui  in  concione 
detrahat  de  Pompeio. — De  Hariisp.  resp.  24. 


-^ECT.  vi.  CICERO.  41 

A.  Urb.  697.     Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent  Marcellinus.  L.  Mai-.  Philippus. 

currence  of  circumstances,  peculiar  to  the  man  and 
the  times,  was  (he  thing  that  preserved  Clodius, 
whose  insolence  could  never  have  been  endured 
in  any  quiet  and  regular  state  of  the  city. 

By  his  obtaining  the  aedileship,  the  tables  were 
turned  between  him  and  Milo :  the  one  was  arm- 
ed with  the  authority  of  a  magistrate  ;  the  other 
become  a  private  man  :  the  one  freed  from  all  ap- 
prehension of  judges  and  a  trial ;  the  other  exposed 
to  all  that  danger  from  the  power  of  his  antago- 
nist :  and  it  was  not  Clodius's  custom,  to  neglect 
any  advantage  against  an  enemy ;  so  that  he  now- 
accused  Milo  of  the  same  crime  of  which  Milo 
had  accused  him ;  of  publick  violence  and  breach 
of  the  laws,  in  maintaining  a  band  of  gladiators  to 
the  terrour  of  the  city.  Milo  made  his  appear- 
ance to  this  accusation,  on  the  second  of  Februa- 
ry ;  when  Pompey,  Crassus,  and  Cicero  appeared 
with  him;  and  M.  Marcellus,  though  Clodius's 
colleague  in  the  aedileship,  spoke  for  him  at  Ci- 
cero's desire  ;  and  the  Avhole  passed  quietly  and 
favourably  for  him  on  that  day.  The  second 
hearing  w^is  appointed  on  the  ninth ;  when  Pom- 
pey undertook  to  plead  his  cause ;  but  no  sooner 
stood  up  to  speak,  than  Clodius's  mob  began  to 
exert  their  usual  arts,  and,  by  a  continual  clamour 
of  reproaches  and  invectives,  endeavoured  to  hin- 
der him  from  going  on,  or  at  least  from  being 
heard :  but  Pompey  was  too  firm  to  be  so  baffled ; 
and  spoke  for  near  three  hours,  with  a  presence 
of  mind,  which  commanded  silence  in  spite  of 
their  attempts.  When  Clodius  rose  up  to  answer 
him,  Milo's  party,  in  their  turn,  so  disturbed  and 
confounded  him,  that  he  was  not  able  to  speak  a 

VOL.    IT.  6 


42  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vi 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L,  Mar.  Philippus. 

word  ;  while  a  number  of  epigrams  and  lampoons 
upon  him  and  his  sister  were  thrown  about,  and 
publickly  rehearsed  amons;  the  multitude  below, 
so  as  to  make  him  quite  ifurious :  till  recollecting 
himself  a  little,  and  finding  it  impossible  to  pro- 
ceed in  his  speech,  he  demanded  aloud  of  his  mob, 
who  it  was,  that  attempted  to  starve  them  by  fa- 
mine ?  To  which  they  presently  cried  out,  Pom- 
pey  :  he  then  asked,  who  it  was,  that  desired  to 
be  sent  to  Egypt?  They  all  echoed,  Pompey : 
but  when  he  asked,  who  it  was,  that  they  them- 
selves had  a  mind  to  send  ?  they  answered,  Cras- 
sus  :  for  the  old  jealousy  was  now  breaking  out 
again  between  him  and  Pompey  ;  and  though  he 
appeared  that  day  on  Milo's  side,  yet  he  was  not, 
as  Cicero  says,  a  real  well-wisher  to  him. 

These  warm  proceedings  among  the  chiefs, 
brought  on  a  fray  below%  among  their  partisans ; 
the  Glodians  began  the  attack,  but  w  ere  repulsed 
by  the  Pompeians  ;  and  Clodius  himself  driven  out 
of  the  rostra  i  Cicero,  when  he  saw  the  affair  pro- 
ceed to  blows,  thought  it  high  time  to  retreat  and 
make  the-4)est  of  his  w  ay  towards  home  :  but  no 
great  harm  was  done,  for  Pompey,  having  cleared 
the  forum  of  his  enemies,  presently  drew  off  his 
forces,  to  prevent  a<iy  farther  mischief  or  scandal 
from  his  side.^ 


*  Ad  diem  IIII.  Non.  Febr.  M\\&  aflfiiit.  Ei  Pompeiiis  advocatus 
venit.  Dixit  Marcellus  a  ine  rogatus.  Hoiieste  discessiraiis.  Pro- 
ductus  dies  est  in  lill.  Id.  FeU— A.  D.  IIII.  Id.  Milo  affiiit.  Dixit 
Pompeius,  sive  voliiit.  Nam  ut  snrrexit,  operae  Clodianae  clamorem 
sustiilernnt :  idque  ei  perpetua  oratione  contigit.  non  niodo  nt  ac- 
claraalione,  sed  nt  convicjo  et  maledictis  impediretnr.  Uiii  nt  pero- 
ravit.  nam  in  eo  sane  lortis  Init,  non  est  deterritus,  dixit  oirn  a  atque 
interdum  etiam  silentio,  cum  anrtoritate  pfregerat ;  sed  ut  peroravit, 
surrexit  Clodius :  ei  tantus  clamor  a  nostris,  piacuerat  euim  refeiTft 


aKci.  VI.  CICERO.  43 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cjc.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

The  senate  was  presently  summoned,  to  provide 
some  remedy  for  these  disorders;  where  Pom- 
pey,  w^ho  had  drawn  upon  himself  a  fresh  envy 
from  his  behaviour  in  the  Eoryptian  affair,  was 
severely  handled  by  Bibulus,  Curio,  Favonius,  and 
others ;  Cicero  chose  to  be  absent,  since  he  must 
either  have  offended  Pompey,  by  sayini^  nothing 
for  him,  or  the  honest  party,  by  defending  him. 
The  same  debate  was  carried  on  for  several  days ; 
in  which  Pompey  was  treated  very  roughly  by 
the  tribune  Cato ;  who  inveighed  against  him  with 
great  fierceness,  and  laid  open  his  perfidy  to  Ci- 
cero, to  whom  he  paid  the  highest  compliments  ; 
and  was  heard  with  much  attention  by  all  Pom- 
pey's  enemiese 

Pompey  answered  him  with  an  unusual  vehe- 
mence ;  and  reflecting  openly  on  Crassus,  as  the 
author  of  these  affronts,  declared,  that  he  would 
guard  his  life  with  more  care  than  Scipio  Africa- 
nus  did^  when  Carbo  murdered  him.  These  warm 
expressions  seemed  to  open  a  prospect  of  some 
great  agitation  likely  to  ensue  :  Pompey  consult- 
ed with  Cicero  on  the  proper  means  of  his  securi- 
ty ;  and  acquainted  him  w  ith  his  apprehensions  of 


gratiam,  iit  neque  mente,  neque  lingua,  neqiie  ore  consisterel. — Cum 
omnia  maledicta,  turn  versus  etiara  obscoenissimi  in  Clodium  et  Clo- 
diara  dicerentur.  Ille  furens  et  exsanguis  inteiTogabat  suos  in  da- 
more  ipso,  quis  esset,  qui  plebera  fame  necaret  ?  Respondebant  ope- 
rae,  Pompeius.  Quis  Alexandriam  ire  cuperet  ?  Respondebant,  Pora- 
peius.     Quem  ire  vellent?  Respondebant,  Crassum.     Is  aderat  turn 

Miloni  animo  non  amico. 

Hora  fere  nona,  quasi  signo  dato,  Clodiani  nostros  consputare  coe- 
periint.  Exarsit  dolor,  urgere  illi  ut  loco  nos  moverent.  Factus  est 
a  nostris  impetus,  lnga  operarum.  Ejectus  de  rostris  Clodius.  Ac 
nos  quoque  turn  f'ugimus,  ne  quid  in  turba. — Senatus  vocatus  in  Cu- 
riam, Pompeius  domum Ad  Quint.  Fr.  2.  3.^ 


44  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcell'nus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

a  deri^n  against  his  life  ;  thai  Cato  was  privately 
supported,  and  Clodius  furnished  with  money  by 
Crassus ;  and  both  of  them  encouraged  by  Curio, 
Bibulus,  and  tlie  rest,  who  envied  him ;  that  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  look  to  himself,  since  the 
meaner  people  were  wholly  alienated,  the  nobility 
and  senate  generally  disaffected,  and  the  youth 
corrupted.  Cicero  readily  consented  to  join  forces 
with  him,  and  to  summon  their  clients  and  friends 
from  all  parts  of  Ital>  :  for  though  he  had  no  mind 
to  fight  his  battles  in  the  senate,  he  was  desirous 
to  defend  his  person  from  all  violence,  especially 
against  Crassus,  whom  he  never  loved :  they  re- 
solved likewise,  to  oppose  with  united  strength  all 
the  attempts  of  Clodius  and  Cato,  against  Lentulus 
and  Milo.*  Clodius,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not 
les-;  busy  in  mustering  his  friends  against  the  next 
hearing  of  Milo's  cause  :  but  as  his  strength  was 
much  infei  iour  to  that  of  his  adversary,  so  he  had 
no  expectation  of  getting  him  condemned,  nor  any 

*  Neqne  c;^o  in  senatum.  ne  aut,  de  tantis  rebus  tacerem,  aiit  in 
Pompeio  defendendo,  nam  is  car|)ebatur  a  Bibulo,  Curione,  Favonio, 
Servilio  filio,  aniraos  bonoruin  oflenderem.  Kes  in  posterum  diem 
dilata  est.— Eo  die  nihil  perfectum. — Ad  diem  II.  Id. — Cato  est 
vehementer  in  Porapeium  inveetiis  et  eum  oratione  perpetiia  tan- 
quam  reuui  accusavit.  De  me  raulta,  me  invito,  cum  mea  summa 
laude  dixit.  Cum  illius  in  me  perfidiam  incrcpavit,  auditus  est 
magno  silentio  maJevoloruni.  Respondit  ei  vehementer  Pompeius 
Crassumque  descripsit ;  dixitque  aperte,  se  munitiorera  ad  custodi- 
endam  vitara  suara  fore,  quam  Africanus  fuisset,  quem  C.  Carbo 
inieremisset.  Itaque  magnae  mihi  res  moveri  videbautur.  Nam 
Pompe  us  haec  intelligit,  mecunique  communicat  insidias  vitae  suae 
fieri:  C.  Catonem  a  Crasso  sus'entari ;  Clodio  pecuniara  suppedita- 
ri :  utrumque  et  ab  eo  et  a  Cijrione,  Bibulo,  caeterisque  suis  ob- 
trectatoribus  conGrmari  :  vehementer  esse  providendum  ne  opprima- 
tur,  concionario  illo  populo,  a  se  prope  alienato,  nobilitate  inimica, 
non  aequo  senatu,  juventute  improba ;  itaque  se  eomparat.  homines 
ex  agris  arcessit.  Operas  autem  suas  Clodius  contirmat.  Manus 
ad  Quirinalia  paratur.  In  eo  multo  sumus  superiores,  etc.  Ad  Quint. 
2.  3. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  45 

A.  Urh.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

other  view,  but  to  teize  and  harass  him  :^  for 
after  two  hearings,  the  affair  was  put  off  by  seve- 
ral adjournments  to  the  beginning  of  May ;  from 
which  time  we  find  no  farther  mention  of  it. 

The  consul,  Marcellinus,  who  drew  his  colleague 
Philippus  along  with  him,  was  a  resolute  opposer 
of  the  triumvirate,  as  well  as  of  all  the  violences 
of  the  other  magistrates :  for  which  reason,  he 
resolved  to  suffer  no  assemblies  of  the  people,  ex- 
cept such  as  were  necessary  for  the  elections  into 
the  annual  offices  :  his  view  was,  to  prevent  Cato's 
law  for  recalling  Lentulus,  and  the  monstrous 
things,  as  Cicero  calls  them,  which  some  were  at- 
tempting at  this  time  in  favour  of  Caesar.  Cicero 
gives  him  the  character  of  one  of  the  best  con- 
suls that  he  had  ever  known,  and  blames  him  only 
in  one  thing ;  for  treating  Pompey,  on  all  occa- 
sions, too  rudely ;  v.  hich  made  Cicero  often  absent 
himself  from  the  senate,  to  avoid  taking  part,  either 
on  the  one  side  or  the  other.f  For  the  support, 
therefore,  of  his  dignity  and  interest  in  the  city,  he 
resumed  his  old  task  of  pleading  causes;  which 
was  always  popular  and  reputable,  and  in  which  he 
was  sure  to  find  full  employment.  His  first  cause 
was  the  defence  of  L.  Bestia,  on  the  tenth  of 
February,  who,   after  the  disgrace  of  a  repulse 

*  Vid.  Dio.  p.  99. 

f  Consul  est  egresins  Lentulus,  non  impedientc  colFega  :  sic  in- 
quam  bonus,  ut  meliorem  non  viderim.  Dies  comitiaI«i<5  exerait 
omues. — iSic  legibus  perniciosissimis  obsistitur,  maximc  Catonis. — 
Nunc  igitur  Catonem  Lentulus  a  legibus  removii,  et  eos,  qui  de 
Caesare  raonstra  piomulgarunt.— Marcellinus  autem  hoc  uno  niihi 
minus  satisfaoit,  quod  euin  nimis  aspere  tractat,  quanquam  id  sena- 
tu  non  invito  facit :  quo  ego  me  libentius  a  curia,  et  ab  omni  parte 
reip.  subtraho.     Ad  Quint.  26. 


46  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

from  the  praetorship  in  the  last  election,  was  ac- 
cused of  bribery  and  corruption  in  his  suit  for  it ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  authority  and  eloquence 
of  his  advocate,  was  convicted  and  banished.  He 
was  a  man  extremely  corrupt,  turbulent,  and  se- 
ditious ;  had  always  been  an  enemy  to  Cicero ; 
and  supposed  to  be  deeply  engao;ed  in  Catiline's 
plot ;  and  is  one  instance  of  the  truth  of  what  Ci- 
cero says,  that  he  was  often  forced,  aoainst  his 
will,  to  defend  certain  persons,  who  had  not  de- 
served it  of  him,  by  the  intercession  of  those  who 
had.^ 

Caesar,  who  was  now  in  the  career  of  his  victo- 
ries in  Gaul,  sent  a  request  to  the  senate ;  "that 
"  money  miojht  be  decreed  to  him  for  the  payment 
"  of  his  army ;  with  a  power  of  choosing  ten  lieu- 
"  tenants,  for  the  better  management  of  the  war, 
"  and  the  conquered  provinces  ;  and  that  his  com- 
"  mand  should  be  prolonged  for  five  years  more."' 
The  demand  was  thought  very  exorbitant  ;  and 
it  seemed  strange,  that,  after  all  his  boasted  con- 
quests, he  should  not  be  able  to  maintain  his  army 
without  mTJtiey  from  home,  at  a  time  when  the 
treasury  was  greatly  exhausted  ;  and  the  renewal 
of  a  commission,  obtained  at  first  by  violence,  and 
against  the  authority  of  the  senate,  was  of  hard 
digestion.  But  Caesar's  interest  prevailed,  and 
Cicero  himself  was  the  promoter  of  it,  and  pro- 
cured a  decree  to  his  satisfaction  ;  yet,  not  without 
disgusting  the  old  patriots,  who  stood  firm  to  their 


*  A,  D.  III.  Id.  dixi  pro  Bestia  de  ambitu  apnd  praetorem  Cn. 
Domitimn,  in  foro  medio,  maximo  conventu. — Ad  Uuint .  2.  3. 

Cogor  nonnunquam  homines  non  optime  de  me  meritos,  rogatii 
eorum  qui  bene  meriti  sunt,  defendere.  Ep.  Fam.  7.  1.  Vid.  Philip. 
XI.  5.  Salhist.  17.  43.  Phitar.  in  Cic. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  47 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  Marcellinus.     L.  Mar.  Pbilippus. 

maxim  of  opposing  all  extraordinary  grants  :  but 
Cicero  alleged  the  extraordinary  services  of  Cae- 
sar ;  and  that  the  course  of  his  victories  ought  not 
to  be  checked  by  the  want  of  necessary  supplies, 
while  he  was  so  gloriously  extending  the  bounds 
of  the  Empire,  and  conquering  nations,  whose 
names  had  never  been  heard  before  at  Rome  :  and 
thouiih  it  were  possible  for  him  to  maintain  his 
troops  without  their  help,  by  the  spoils  of  the  ene- 
my, yet  those  spoils  ought  to  be  reserved  for  the 
splendour  of  his  triumph,  which  it  was  not  just  to 
defraud  by  their  unseasonable  parsimony.* 

He  might  think  it 'imprudent,  perhaps,  at  this 
time,  to  call  Caesar  home  from  an  unfinished  war, 
and  stop  the  progress  of  his  arms  in  the  very  height 
of  his  success  ;  yet  the  real  motive  of  his  conduct 
seems  to  have  flowed,  not  so  much  from  the  merits 
of  the  cause,  as  a  regard  to  the  condition  of  the 
times,  and  his  own  circumstances.  For  in  his  pri- 
vate letters,  he  owns,  "  That  tlie  malevolence  and 
"  envy  of  the  aristocratical  chiefs  had  almost  dri- 
"  ven  him  from  his  old  principles,  and,  though  not 
"  so  far  as  to  make  him  forget  his  dignity,  yet  so 
"  as  to  take  a  proper  care  of  his  safety,  both  which 
"  might  be  easily  consistent,  if  there  was  any  faith 
"  or  gravity  in  the  consular  senators :  but  they  had 
"  managed  their  matters  so  ill,  that  those  who  were 
"  superiour  to  them  in  power,  were  become  supe- 

*  Ilium  enim  arbitrabar  etiam  sine  hoc  subsidio  pecuniae  retinere 
exercitum  praeda  ante  parta,  et  helium  conHcere  posse  :  sed  decus  il- 
lud  et  ornamentum  triuraphi  minuendum  nostra  parsimonia  uon  puta- 
vi. — 

Et  quas  regiones,  quasque  gentes  nullae  nobis  antea  litterae,  nulla 
rox,  nulla  fama  notas  leccrat,  bas  noster  imperator,  nosterque  exerci- 
tus,  etpopuli  Koraaniarmaperagrarunt. — De  Prov.  CousuJ,  XJ.  I?.. 


48  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  Marcelliuus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 


*•  liour  too  in  authority,  so  as  to  be  able  to  carry 
"  in  the  senate  what  they  could  not  have  carried 
"  even  with  the  people  without  violence  :  that  he 
•'  had  learned,  from  experience,  what  he  could  not 
'^  learn  so  well  from  books,  that  as  no  regard  was  to 
"  be  had  to  our  safety,  without  a  reo;ard  also  to  our 
"  dignity  ;  so  the  consideration  of  dignity  ought 
"  not  to  exclude  the  care  of  our  safety."^  In  an- 
other letter,  he  says,  "  That  the  state  and  form  of 
"  the  government  was  quite  changed,  and  what  he 
"  had  proposed  to  himself,  as  the  end  of  all  his 
*'  toils,  a  dignity  and  liberty  of  acting  and  voting, 
"  was  quite  lost  and  gone  :  that  there  was  nothing 
*'  left,  but  either  meanly  to  assent  to  the  few  w^ho 
"  governed  all,  or  weakly  to  oppose  them,  with- 
"  out  doing  any  good  :  that  he  had  dropt,  therefore, 
*'  all  thoughts  of  that  old  consular  gravity  and  cha- 
"  racter  of  a  resolute  senator,  and  resolved  to  con- 
*'  form  himself  to  Pompey's  will ;  that  his  great  af- 
"  fection  to  Pompey  made  him  begin  to  think  all 
"  things  riffht  which  were  useful  to  him  :  and  he 
'^  comforted  himself  with  reflecting,  that  the  great- 
*'  ness  of  his  obligations  would  make  all  the  world 
"  excuse  hil5t  for  defending  what  Pompey  liked,  or 
"  at  least  for  not  opposing  it ;  or  else,  what  of  all 
"  things  he  most  desired,  if  his  friendship  with  Pom- 


*  Quorum  inalevolentissirais  obtrectationibus  nos  scito  de  vetere 
ilia  nostra,  (liuturnaque  sententia  propejam  esse  depulsos  :  non  nos 
quidem  ut  nostrae  dignitatis  simus  obliti,  sed  ut  habeamus  rationem 
aliquaudo  etiam  salutis.  Poterat  utrumque  praeclare,  si  esset  fides, 
si  gravitas  in  hominibus  consularil^us. — 

Nam  qui  plus  opibus,  armis,  poleutia  valent,  profecisse  tantum  rai- 
hi  videnlur  stullitia  et  inconstantia  adversariornm,  ut  etiara  auctori- 
tate  jam  plus  valerent. — quod  ipse,  literis  omnibus  a  pueritia  deditus, 
experiundo  tamen  magis,  quam  discendo  cognovi ; — neque  salutis  nos- 
trae rationem  habendam  nobis  esse  sine  dignitate,  neque  dignitatij*" 
sine  salute. — Ep.  fam  1.  7. 


SECT.    VI.  CICERO.  49 


A.  tJrb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— P.  Corn.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

"  pey  would  permit  him,  for  retiring  from  publick 
"  business,  and  giving  himself  wholly  up  to  his 
"  books."^ 

But  he  was  now  en2;aired  in  a  cause  in  which  he 
was  warmly  and  specially  interested,  the  defence 
of  P.  Sextius,  the  late  tribune.  Clodius,  who  gave 
Cicero's  friends  no  respite,  having  himself  under- 
taken MUo,  assigned  the  prosecution  of  Sextius  to 
one  of  his  confidents,  M.  Tullius  Albinovanus,  who 
accused  him  of  publick  violence,  or  breach  of 
peace  in  his  tribunate.f  Sextius  had  been  a  true 
friend  to  Cicero  in  his  distress,  and  borne  a  great 
part  in  his  restoration ;  but  as,  in  cases  of  eminent 
service,  conferred  jointly  by  many,  every  one  is 
apt  to  claim  the  first  merit,  and  expect  the  first 
share  of  praise  ;  so  Sextius,  naturally  morose,  fan- 
cying himself  neglected,  or  not  sufficiently  requit- 
ted  by  Cicero,  had  behaved  very  churlishly  towards 
him  since  his  return  :  but  Cicero,  who  was  never 
forgetful  of  past  kindnesses,  instead  of  resenting 
his  perverseness,  having  heard  that  Sextius  was  in- 
disposed, went  in  person  to  his  house,  and  cured 

*'Tantmri  enini  animi  inductlo  et  me  hercule  amor  erga  Porapeium 
apiid  me  valet,  ut,  quae  ille  iitilia  sunt,  et  quae  ille  vult,  ea  milii  om" 
Ilia  jam  et  recta  ct  vera  videantur — Me  quidem  ilia  res  consolatur, 
quod  ego  Is  ?um,  cui  vel  maxime  concedant  omues,  ut  vel  ea  defen- 
dam,  quae  Pompeius  velit,  vel  taceam,  vel  etiam,  id  quod  mihi  max- 
ime lubet,  ad  nostra  me  studia  referam  litterarum  ;  quod  profecto  fa- 
ciam,  si  mihi  per  ejusdem  amicitiam  licebit. 

Quae  enim  proposita  fuerant  nobis,  cum  et  bonoribus  amplissimis, 
et  laboribus  maximis  perfuncti  essemus,  dignitas  in  sententiis  dicen- 
dis,  libertas  in  Rep.  capessenda  ;  ea  sublata  tota  :  sed  nee  mihi  magis, 
quam  omnibus.  Nam  aut  assentiendum  est  nulla  cum  gravitate  pau- 
cis,  aut  frustra  dissentiendum.     Ibid.  8. 

t  Qui  cum  omnibus  salutis  meae  defensoribus  bellura  sibi  esse  ge- 
rendum  judicaverunt.     Pro  Sext.  2. 
VOL,    IT.  7 


D 


50  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  vi, 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.    Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 


him  of  all  his  jealousies,  by  freely  offering  his  assis- 
tance and  patronage  in  pleading  his  cause.^ 

This  was  a  disappointment  to  the  prosecutors, 
who  flattered  themselves  that  Cicero  was  so  much 
disgusted,  that  he  would  not  be  persuaded  to  plead 
for  him  ;  but  he  entered  into  the  cause  with  a  hearty 
inclination,  and  made  it,  as  in  effect,  it  really  w^as, 
his  own.f  In  his  speech,  which  is  still  extant,  after 
laying  open  the  history  of  his  exile,  and  the  mo- 
tives of  his  own  conduct  through  the  whole  pro- 
gress of  it,  he  shews,  "  That  the  only  ground  of 
*' persecuting  Sextius  was,  his  faithful  adherence  to 
"  him,  or  rather  to  the  republick :  that,  by  con- 
*"  demning  Sextius,  they  would,  in  effect,  condemn 
"  him,  whom  all  the  orders  of  the  city  had  declared 
"  to  be  unjustly  expelled,  by  the  very  same  men 
"  who  were  now^  attempting  to  expel  Sextius :  that 
"  it  was  a  banter  and  ridicule  on  justice  itself,  to 
"  accu'se  a  man  of  violence,  w  ho  had  been  left  for 
"  dead  upon  the  spot,  by  the  violence  of  those  w^ho 
"  accused  him ;  and  whose  only  crime  was,  that 
"  he  would  not  suffer  himself  to  be  quite  killed, 
"  but  presumed  to  guard  his  life  against  their  fu- 
"ture  attempts."  In  short,  he  managed  the  cause 
so  well,  that  Sextius  was  acquitted,  and  in  a  manner 
the  most  honourable,  by  the  unanimous  suffrages  of 
all  the  judges,  and  with  an  universal  applause  of  Ci- 
cero's humanity  and  gratitude.^ 

*  Is  erat  aeger  :  domiim,  ut  debuimus,  ad  eum  statim  venimns ; 
eique  nos  totos  tradidimus  :  idqOe  lioiirius  praeter  liominuns  opinio- 
ntm,  qui  nos  ei  jure  succensere  putabant,  nt  humanissiiui  gralissinn- 
que  et  ipsi  et  omnibus  videremur:  itaque  facieirius.     Ad  Quint.  2.  3. 

fP.  Sextius  est  reus  non  suo  sed  mco  nomine,  etc.    Pro  Sext.  13. 

I  Sextius  noster  absolutus  est.  A.  D.  II.  Id.  Mart,  et  quod  velic> 
menter  interfuit  Reipub.  nullaui  videri  in  ejusmodi  causa  dissensionem 
esse,  omnibus  seuteutiis  absolutus  est—Scito  nos  in  eu  judicio  couse- 


k 


SECT.    VI. 


CTCERO.  51 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

Pompey  attended  this  trial  as  a  friend  to  Sextius ; 
while  Caesar's  creature,  Yatinius,  appeared  not 
only  as  an  adversary,  but  a  witness  ao;ainst  hiin : 
which  gave  Cicero  an  opportunity  of  lashing  him, 
as  Sextius  particularly  desired,  with  all  the  keenness 
of  his  raillery,  to  the  great  diversion  of  the  audi- 
ence :  for,  instead  of  interrogating  him  in  the  ordi- 
nary way  about  the  facts  deposed  in  the  trial  he 
contrived  to  teize  him  with  a  perpetual  series  of 
questions  which  revived  and  exposed  the  iniquity 
of  his  factious  tribunate,  and  the  whole  course  of 
his  profligate  life,  from  his  lirst  appearance  in  pub- 
lick ;  and,  in  spite  of  all  his  impudence,  quite 
daunted  and  confounded  him.  Yatinius,  however, 
made  some  feeble  effort  to  defend  himself,  and  rally 
Cicero  in  his  turn ;  and,  among  other  things,  re- 
proached him  with  the  baseness  of  changing  sides, 
and  becoming  Caesar's  friend,  on  account  of  the 
fortunate  state  of  his  atfairs ;  to  which  Cicero 
briskly  replied,  though  Pompey  himself  stood  by, 
that  he  §till  preferred  the  condition  of  Bibulus's 
consulship,  which  Yatinius  thought  abject  and  mi- 
serable, to  the  victories  and  triumphs  of  all  men 
whatsoever.  This  speech  against  Yatinius  is  still 
remaining,  under  the  title  of  the  interrogation,  and 
is  nothing  else  but  what  Cicero  himself  calls  it,  a 
perpetual  invective  on  the  magistracy  of  Yatinius, 
and  the  conduct  of  those  who  supported  him.* 

In  the  beginning   of  April,   the   senate  granted 
the  sum  of  three  hundred  thousand  pounds  toPom- 

cutos  esse,  nt  omnium  gratissimi  Judicaremur.  Nam  in  defendendo 
homimMiiorosocumulatissimesatisteciraus.— Ad  Quint.  2.  4. 

'  *  Vatinium,  a  quo  palam  oppugnabatur,  arbitratu  nostro  concidimus, 
diis  hominibusque  plaudentibus.— Quid  quaeris  ?  Homo  petulans  et 
audax  Vatinius  valde  pertiirbatus,  debilitatusque  discessit.—lb. 


'^- 


52  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vi 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L   Mar.  Philippus. 


pey,  to  be  laid  out  in  purchasing  corn  for  the  use 
of  the  city ;  where  there  was  still  a  great  scarcity, 
and  as  great,  at  the  same  time,  of  money  ;  so 
that  the  moving  a  point  so  tender,  could  not  fail  of 
raising  some  ill  humour  in  the  assembly  ;  when  Ci- 
cero, whose  old  spirit  seems  to  have  revived  in  him 
from  his  late  success  in  Sextius's  cause,  surprised 
them  by  proposing,  that,  in  the  present  inability  of 
the  treasury  to  purchase  the  Campanian  lands, 
which  by  Caesar's  act,  were  to  be  divided  to  the 
people,  the  act  itself  should  be  reconsidered,  and 
a  day  appointed  for  that  deliberation ;  the  motion 
was  received  with  an  universal  joy,  and  a  kind  of 
tumultuary  acclamation ;  the  enemies  of  the  tri- 
umvirate were  extremely  pleased  with  it,  in  hopes 
that  it  would  make  a  breach  between  Cicero  and 
Pompey  :  but  it  served  only  for  a  proof,  of  what 
Cicero  himself  observes,  that  it  is  very  hard  for  a 
man  to  depart  from  his  old  sentiments  in  politics, 
when  they  are  right  and  just.* 

Pompey^  whose  nature  was  singularly  reserved, 
expressed  no  uneasiness .  upon  it,  nor  took  any  no- 
tice of  it  tajCicero,  though  they  met  and  supped 
together  familiarly,  as  they  used  to  do :  but  he  set 


Ego,  scdente  Pompeio,  cum  ut  laudaret  P.  Sextium  introiisset  inur- 
bera,  dixissetque  testis  Vatiiiiiis,  me  forluna  et  felicitate  C.  Caesaris 
commoliKi!,  illi  amiciim  esse  coepisse ;  dixi.  me  earn  Bibuli  fortunam, 
quum  ilie  afflictam  pntaret,  omnium  triumphis  victoriisque  anteferre. — 
Tota  Tero  interrogatio  mea  nihil  habuit,  nisi  reprehensionem  illius 
tribunatus :  in  quo  omnia  dicta  sunt  libertatc,  animoque  maximo.  Ep. 
Fam.  1.  9. 

*  Pompeio  pecunia  decreta  in  rem  fnimentariam  ad  H.S.  cccc.  sed 
eodem  die  vehemencer  actum  de  agro  Campano,  clamore  senatus  prope 
concionali,  Acriorem  causam  inopia  pecuniae  faciebat,  et  annonae 
caritas.     Ad  Quint.  2.  .'). 

Nonis  April,  raihi  est  senatus  assensus,  ut  de  agro  Campano,  idibus 
Maiis,  fVequenti  senatu  referretur.  JVam  potui  aiagis  in  arcem  illius 
causae  invadere.     Ep,  Fara.  1.  9. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  53 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcelliniis.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

forward  soon  after  towards  Africa,  in  order  to  pro- 
vide corn  ;  and,  intending   to  call  at  Sardinia,  pro- 
posed to  embark  at  Pisa  or  Leghorn,  that  he  might 
have  an  interview   with  Caesar,  who  was   now  at 
Luca,  the  utmost  limit  of  his  Gallick  government. 
He  found  Caesar  exceedingly  out  of  humour  with  Ci- 
cero ;  for  Crassus  had  already  been  with  him  at  Ra- 
venna, and  greatly  incensed  him  by  his  account  of 
Cicero's  late  motion ;  which  he  complained  of  so 
heavily,  that  Pompey  promised  to  use   all  his  au- 
thority, to  induce  Cicero  to  drop  the  pursuit  of  it; 
and,   for  that   purpose,   sent   away  an  express  to 
Rome,  to  entreat  him  not  to  proceed  any  farther  in 
it  till  his  return ;  and  when  he  came  afterwards  to 
Sardinia,  where  his  lieutenant,  Q.  Cicero,  then  re- 
sided, he  entered  immediately  into  an  expostulation 
with  him  about  it,    "  recounting  all  his  services  to 
"  his  brother,  and  that  every  thing  which   he  had 
"  done  for  him,   was  done  with   Caesar's  consent ; 
"  and  reminding  him  of  a  former  conversation  be- 
"  tween  themselves,   concerning  Caesar's  acts,  and 
"  what   Quintus   himself  liad   undertaken   for  his 
"  brother  on  that  head  ;  and,  as  he  then  made  him- 
'^  self  answerable  for  him,  so  he  was  now  obliged 
''  to  call  him  to   the   performance    those   engage- 
"  ments  :  in    short,   he    begged    him  to  press  his 
"  brother,  to  support  and  defend  Caesar's  interests 
"  and  dignity,  or,  if  he  could  not  persuade  him  to 
"  that,  to  engage  him,  at  least,   not  to  act  against 
"  them."* 


*  Hoc  S.  C.  iu  sententiaoi  lueam  Cacto,  Pompeiiis,  cum  mihi  nihil 
ostendisset  se  esse  ofl'ensum,  in  Sardiniani  ct  in  Alricam  profectiis  est, 
eoque  itinera  Lucam  ad  Caesarein  venit.  Ibi  multa  de  niea  seiitentia 
questus  est  Caesar,  qiiippe  qui  etiam  Havennae  Crassnm  ante  vidissct, 
ab  eoque  in  me  esset  ineeusus.  Sane  moleste  Pompeiiim  id  ferre  con- 
stabat :  quod  ego,  cum  audissem  ex  aliis,  maximeex  fratremeo  cog- 
nori  ;  quera  cum  in  Sardinia  paucis  post  dicbus,  quam  Luca  discesse- 


54  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  697.     Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

This  remonstrance  from   Pompey,  enforced  by 
his  brother  Q,uintus,  staggered  Cicero's  resolution, 
and  made  him  enter  into  a  fresh  deliberation  with 
himself  about  the  measures  of  his  conduct ;  where, 
after  casting  up  the  sum  of  all  his  thoughts,  and 
weighing    every    circumstance,  which    concerned 
either  his  own  or  the   publick  interest,  he  deter- 
mined at  last  to  drop  the  affair,  rather  than  ex- 
pose  himself  again,    in  his    present    situation,  to 
the  animosity  of  Pompey  and  Caesar ;  for  which 
he  makes  the  following  apology  to  his  friend  Len- 
tulus  :  "  that  those,  who  professed  the  same  prin- 
"  ciples,  and  were  embarked  in  the   same  cause 
"  with  him,  were  perpetually  envying  and  thwart- 
"  ing  him,  and  more  disgusted  by  the  splendour  of 
''his  life,  than  pleased  with  any  thing  which  he 
"  did  for  the  publick  service  :  that  their  only  plea- 
"sure,  and  what  they  could  not  even  dissemble, 
"  while  he  was  acting  with  them,  was  to  see  him 
"  disoblige   Pompey,  and  make  Caesar  his  enemy ; 
"  when  they,  at  the  same  time,  were  continually 
"  caressing  Clodius  before  his  face,  on  purpose  to 
"  mortify  him  :  that  if  the  government  indeed  had 
"  fallen  mf^  wicked  and  desperate  hands,  neither 
"hopes  nor  fears,  nor  gratitude  itself,  could  have 
''  prevailed  with  him  to  join  with  them ;  but  when 
'^  Pompey  held  the  chief  sway,  who  had  acquired 
"  it  by  the  most  illustrious  merit ;  whose  dignity 
''  he  had  always  favoured  from  his  first  setting  out 

rat,  convenisset.  Te,  iuquit,  ip?ura  cupio  ;  nihil  opportunius  potu- 
it  accidere  :  nisi  cuna  Mateo  tratre  diligenter  egeris,  dependendiim 
tibi  est,  quod  milii  pro  illo  spospondisti :  quid  multa  ?  Questus  est 
gravitcr  :  sua  merita  coramemoravit :  quid  egisset  saepissime  de  actis 
Caesaris  cum  meo  fratre,  quidque  sibi  is  de  me  recepisset,  in  memo- 
riam  redegit  :  seque  quae  de  mea  salute  egisset,  voluntate  Caesaris 
egisset,  ipsum  meum  iratrem  testatus  est.     Ibid. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  55 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  Mai-celiinus.    L.  Mar.  Pliilippus. 

"  in  the  world,  and  from  wlioin  he  had  received 
"  the  greatest  obligations ;  and  who,  at  tiiat  very 
"time,  made  his  enemy  the  common  enemy  of 
♦'  them  both ;  he  had  no  reason  to  apprehend  the 
"  charge  of  inconstancy,  if,  on  some  occasions,  he 
"  voted  and  acted  a  little  diflferently  from  what  he 
*'  used  to  do,  in  complaisance  to  such  a  friend : 
''that  his  union  with  Pompey  necessarily  included 
"  Caesar,  with  whom  both  he  and  his  brother  had 
"  a  friendship  also  of  long  standing ;  which  tiie>^ 
"  were  invited  to  renew  by  all  manner  of  civili- 
"  ties  and  good  offices,  freely  otfered  on  Caesar's 
"  part :  that,  after  Caesar's  great  exploits  and  vie- 
"  tories,  the  republick  itself  seemed  to  interpose 
"  and  forbid  him  to  quarrel  with  such  men :  that 
"  when  he  stood  in  need  of  their  assistance,  his 
"  brother  had  engaged  his  word  for  him  to  Pom- 
"  pey,  and  Pompey  to  Caesar ;  and  he  thought 
"  himself  obliged  to  make  good  those  eno-aofe- 
"  ments."=* 

This  was  the  general  state  of  his  political  be- 
haviour :  he  had  a  much  larger  view,  and  more  com- 
prehensive  knowledge  both  of   men  and    things, 

*  Qui  cum  ilia  sentirent  in  Repnb.  quae  ego  acjebam,  seinperqiie 
sensissent ;  rae  tamen  non  satist'acere  Pompeio,  (  aesaremque  inimi- 
cissiraiim  mihi  fiitiiriim,  gandere  se  aiebant  :  hoc  mini  dolendum,  sed 
illud  mnlto  magis,  quod  iniraicum  menm — sic  amplexabaiitur — Sic 
rae  praesente  osculabantur — Ego  si  ab  iuiprobis  et  perdilis  civibus 
Rempub.  teneri  videbam — Noii  modo  praemiis — Sed  ne  pcriculis  qui- 
dem  iiliis.  compulsus — Ad  eoiiini  causain  me  adjnngrrein,  ne  si  sum- 
ma  quidem  eorum  in  me  merita  constaient.  Cum  autem  in  Hepub. 
Cn.  Pompeius  princeps  esset — mcumque  inimicum  uuum  in  civitate 
haberet  irumicum,  non  putavi  lamam  inconstanliae  mihi  pcrtimes- 
cendam.  si  quibusdam  in  sententiis  paullum  mc  immuta.vscm,  meam- 
que  voluntatera  ad  summi  viri,  de  meque  optinie  mcriti  dignitatem 
agregassem,  etc.  Gravissime  autem  me  in  hac  mente  impulit,  et 
Pompeii  fides,  quamde  me  Caesari  dederat,  et  Iratris  mei,  quam  Pom- 
peio— Ep.  Fara.  1.9. 


56  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.   vi. 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss,— Cu.  Corn.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 


than  the  other  chiefs  of  the  aristocracy,  Bibulus, 
Marcellinus,  Cato,  Favonius,  kc.  whose  stiffness 
had  ruined  their  cause,  and  brought  them  into 
their  present  subjection  by  alienatino-  Pompey  and 
the  equestrian  order  from  the  senate  :  they  con- 
sidered Cicero's  management  of  the  triumvirate, 
as  a  mean  submission  to  illegal  power,  which  they 
were  always  opposing  and  irritating,  though  ever 
so  unseasonably ;  whereas  Cicero  thought  it  time 
to  give  over  fighting,  when  the  forces  were  so  une- 
qual; and  that  the  more  patiently  they  suffered 
the  dominion  of  their  new  masters,  the  more 
temperately  they  would  use  it  ;^  being  persuaded, 
that  Pompey,  at  least,  who  was  the  head  of  them, 
had  no  designs  against  the  publick  liberty,  unless 
he  were  provoked  and  driven  to  it  by  the  per- 
verse opposition  of  his  enemies.f  These  were  the 
grounds  of  that  complaisance  which  he  now  gene- 
rally paid  to  him,  for  the  sake  both  of  his  own  and 
the  publick  quiet :  in  consequence  of  which,  when 
the  appointed  day  came,  for  considering  the  case 
of  the  Campanian  lands,  the  debate  dropt  of 
course,  when  it  was  understood,  that  Cicero,  the 
mover  of  itrwas  absent  and  had  changed  his  mind : 
though  it  was  not,  as  he  intimates,  without  some 
struggle,  in  his  own  breast,  that  he  submitted  to 

*  Neque,  iit  ego  arbitror,  errarent,  si  cum  pares  esse  noii  possent, 
pugnare  desislerent. — 

Comrautata  tota  ratio  est  senatus,  judiciorum,  Rei  totiiis  publicae. 
Otium  nobis  exoptandiim  est:  quod  ii,  qui  potiuntur  rerum,  prae- 
stituri  videutur,  si  quidam  homines  patientius  eorum  potentiam  fer- 
re  potueriut.  Dignitatem  quidlem  illam  consularem  fbrtis  et  con- 
stantis  senatoris,  nihil  est,  quod  cogitemus.  Amissa  est  culpa  eorum, 
qui  a  senatu  et  ordinem  conjunctissimura,  et  hominem  clarissimuni 
abalienarunt.     Fbid.  8. 

fEp.  Fam.  1.9. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  57 

A.  Uri>.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Maiceliinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

this  step,  wliich  was  likely  to  draw  upon  him  an 
imputation  of  levity ."^ 

His  dauo'hter,  TuUia,  having  now  lived  a  widow 
about  a  year,  was  married  to  a  second  husband, 
Furius  Crassipes  ;  and  the  wedding^  feast  held  at 
Cicero's  house  on  the  sixth  of  April :  we  find  very 
little  said,  of  the  character  or  condition  of  this 
Crassipes ;  but  by  Cicero's  care  in  making  the 
match,  the  fortune  which  he  paid,  and  the  con- 
gratulation of  his  friends  upon  it,  he  appears  to 
have  been  a  nobleman  of  principal  rank  and  dig- 
nity .f  Atticus,  also,  who  was  about  a  year  young- 
er than  Cicero,  was  married  this  spring  to  Pilia, 
and  invited  him  to  the  wedding. {  As  to  his  do- 
mestick  affairs,  his  chief  care  at  present  was  about 
rebuilding  three  of  his  houses,  wliich  were  demol- 
ished in  his  exile  :  and  repairing  the  rest,  with  that 
also  of  his  brother,  out  of  which  they  were  driven 
in  the  last  attack  of  Clodius :  by  the  hints,  which 
he  gives  of  them,  they  all  seem  to  have  been  very 
magnificent,  and  built'  under  the  direction  of  the 
best  architects  :  Clodius  gave  no  farther  interrup- 
tion to  them,  being  forced  to  quit  the  pursuit  of 
Cicero,  in  order  to  watch  the  motions  of  a  more 
dangerous  enemy,  Milo.  Cicero,  however,  was  not 
without  a  share  of  uneasiness,  within  his  own  walls ; 


*  Quod  idibiis  et  postridie  fuerat  dictum,  de  agro  Canipano  ac- 
tum iri,  non  est  actum.  In  hac  causa  mihi  aqua  haeret.— Ad  Quint. 
2.  8. 

t  De  nostra  Tullia— spero  nos  cum  Crassipede  confecisse.  lb.  4. 

Quod  mihi  de  Filia  et  de  Crassipede  gralularis— Nperoque  et  opto 
banc  conjunctionem  nobis  vobiptati  fore      Ep.  Fam.  1.  7. 

Viaticum  Crassipes  praeripit.     Ad  Att.  4.  5. 

I  Prid.  Id  haec  scripsi  ante  hicem.     Eo  die  apud  Porapoainm  in 
ejus  nuptiis  eram  coenaturus.     Ad  Quint.  2.  3. 
VOL.    IT.  ^ 


5«  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  yu 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

his  brother's  wife  and  his  own,  neither  agreed  well 
with  each  other,  nor  their  own  husbands  :  Q,uintus's 
was  displeased  at  her  husband's  staying  so  long 
abroad ;  and  Cieero's  not  disposed  to  make  her's 
the  happier  for  stayini>;  at  home.  His  nephew,  alsoy 
youno;  ftuintus,  a  perverse  youth,  spoiled  by  a 
mother's  indulgence,  added  somewhat  to  his 
trouble  ;  for  he  was  now  charged  with  the  care  of 
his  education,  in  the  father's  absence ;  and  had  him 
taught  under  his  own  eye  by  Tyrannio,  a  Greek 
master;  who,  with  several  other  learned  men,  of 
that  country,  was  entertained  in  his  house. ^ 

King  Ptolemy's  affair  was  no  more  talked  of; 
Pompey  had  other  business  upon  his  hands,  and 
was  so  ruffled  by  the  tribune  Cato,  and  the  consul 
Marcellinus,  that  he  laid  aside  all  thoughts  of  it  for 
himself,  and  wished  to  serve  Lentulus  in  it.  The 
senate  had  passed  a  vote  against  restoring  him  at 
all;  but  one  of  the  tribunes  inhibited  them  from 
proceeding  to  a  decree ;  and  a  former  decree  was 
actually  subsisting  in  favour  of  Lentulus  :  Cicero, 
therefore,  after  a  consultation  with  Pompey,  sent 
him  their  jitkit  and  last  advice  ;  ''  that,  by  his  com- 
"  mand  of  a  province  so  near  to  Egypt,  as  he  was^ 
"the  best  judge  of  what  he  was  able  to  do;  so  if 
"  he  found  him^^elf  master  of  the  thing,  and  was  as» 
"  sured  of  success,  he  might  leave  the  king  ai  Pto~ 

'*  Domiis  utrinsqiie  nostrnm  aedifipatnr  strenne. — lb.  4.  Longilium 
redemptorem  cohortatiis  sum.  Fidfin  mihi  faciebat,  se  velle  nobis 
placere.     Dorauscrit  egregia.   lb.;  6. 

Uuintus  tuus,  puer  optiinus,  eriiditur  egregie.  Hoc  iiniic  magis 
aniinadverto.  quod  Tyraiuio  docet  apud  me. — ib.  4. 

A.  D.  VIII.  Id.  Apr.  Sponsalia  Cras^ipedi  praebui.  Huic  convivio 
pueroptimus.  (Auintus  tuus,  quod  perleviter  commotus  fuerat,  defuit. — 
Multum  is  mecum  sermon<;m  habuit  et  perhumanum  de  discordiis 
mulicrum  nostrarum— Pomponia  autem  etiam  de  te  questa  est. — lb.  C 


«ECT.  VI.  CICERO.  ^9 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Leut.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

"  lemais,  or  some  other  neighboui  ino;  city,  and  pro- 
"  ceed  without  him  to  Alexandria ;  where,  if  by  the 
"  influence  of  his  fleet  and  troops  be  could  appease 
"  the  publick  dissensions,  c^nd  persuaae  the  inhabi- 
"  tants  to  receive  their  king  peaceably,  he  might 
"  then  carry  him  home,  and  so  restore  him  accord- 
"  ing  to  the  first  decree  ;  yet  without  a  multitude, 
"  as  our  religious  men,"  says  he,  ''  tell  us  the  Sibyl 
"  has  injoined  : — that  it  was  the  opinion,  however,  of 
"  them  both,  that  people  would  judge  of  the  fact 
"  by  the  event :  if  he  was  certain,  therefore,  of  car- 
"  rying  his  point,  he  should  not  defer  it ;  if  doubt- 
"  ful,  should  not  undertake  it :  for  as  the  world 
"  would  applaud  him,  if  he  effected  it  with  ease,  so 
"  a  miscarriage  might  be  fatal,  on  account  of  the 
"  late  vote  of  the  senate,  and  the  scruple  about  re- 
"  ligion."*  But  Lentulus,  wisely  judging  the  affair 
too  hazardous  for  one  of  his  dignity  and  fortunes, 
left  it  to  a  man  of  a  more  desperate  character,  Ga- 
binius ;  who  ruined  himself  soon  after  by  embark- 
ing in  it. 

The  tribune  Cato,  wlio  was  perpetually  inveigh- 
ing against  keeping  gladiators,  like  so  many  stand- 
ing armies,  to  the  t^nour  of  the  citizens,  had  lately 

*  Te  perspicere  posse,  qui  Ciliciam  Cyprumque  teneas,  quid  efficere 
et  quid  conseqiii  possis,  et,  si  res  facultatera  habitura  videatur,  ut 
Alexandriain  atqiie  Ae^yptum  tenere  possis,  esse  et  tuae  et  nostri  ira- 
perii  dignitatis,  Ptolemaide,  aut  aliqno  propinqiio  loco  rege  collocato, 
t€  cum  classe,  atque  exercitn  proficisci  Alexandriam  :  ut  cum  earn 
pace,  praesidiisque  firinaris,  Ptolemaeus  redeat  in  rognum  :  ila  fore, 
ut  per  te  restitnatur,  quemadmodum  senatus  initio  censuit ;  et  sine 
raultitudine  reducatur,  quemadmodum  homines  religiosi  Sibyllaepla- 
cere  dixerunt.  Sed  haec  sententia  sic  et  illi  et  nobis  probabatur,  ut 
ex  eventu  liomines  de  tuoconsilio  rxistimaturos  videremus.  Nos  qui- 
dem  hoc  sentimus  ;  si  exploratum  tibi  sit,  posse  te  regni  illius  potiri  ; 
non  esse  cunctandura  :  si  dubium,  noii  esse  conandum,  etc.  Ep.  Fam. 
1.  7, 


60  THE    LIFE   OF  sect,  vi 


A.  Urb.  69r.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  *Iarcell'nus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

bought  a  band  of  them,  but  findins;  himself  unable 
to  maintain  them,  was  contriving  to  part  with  them 
again  without  noise  or  scandal.  Milo  got  notice 
of  it,  and  privately  em^\loyed  a  person,  not  one  of 
his  own  friends,  to  buy  them  ;  and  when  they  were 
purchased,  Racilius,  another  trit)une,  taking  the 
matter  upon  himself,  and  pretending  they  were 
bought  for  him,  published  a  proclamation,  that 
Cato's  family  of  gladiators  was  to  be  sold  by 
auction;  which  gave  no  small  diversion  to  the 
city.* 

Milo's  trial  being  put  ofi*  to  the  fifth  of  May, 
Cicero  took  the  benefit  of  a  short  vacation,  to  make 
an  excursion  into  the  country,  and  visit  his  estates 
and  villas  in  different  parts  of  Italy.  He  spent 
five  days  at  Arpinum,  whence  he  proceeded  to  his 
other  houses  at  Pompeiae  and  Cumae ;  and  stopt  a 
while,  on  his  return,  at  Antium,  where  he  had  lately 
rebuilt  his  house,  and  was  now  disposing  and  ordering 
his  library,  by  the  direction  of  Tyrannio :  "  the 
"  remains  of  which,"  he  says, "  were  more  considera- 
"  ble  than  he  expected  from  the  late  ruin."  Atti- 
cus  lent  hinwtwo  of  his  librarians  to  assist  his  own, 
in  taking  catalogues,  and  placing  the  books  in 
order  ;  which  he  calls  "  the  infusion  of  a  soul  into 
"  the   body  of  his  house."t     During  this  tour,  his 

*  Ille  vindpx  gladiatorum  et  bestiarioruin  eraerat — bestiarios,  Hos 
alere  non  poterat.  Itaqiie  vix  tenebat.  Sensit  Milo,  dedit  cuidam 
non  familiari  negotium,  qui  sine  snspicione  eraeret  earn  familiam  aCa- 
tone  :  quae  siniulatqiie  abducta  ,est,  Hacilins  rem  patefecit,  eosque 
boinines  sibi  emptos  esse  dixit — kt  tabulara  proscripsit,  se  familiam 
Catonianara  veiiditurum.  In  earn  tabulam  magni  risus  consequebantur. 
Ad  Quint.  2.  6. 

t  Offendes  designationcm  Tyrannionis  mirificara  in  librorura  meo- 
imn  Bibliotheta  :  quorum  reliquiae  raulto  meliores  suqt  quam  puta- 


SECT.  Ti.  CICERO.  61 

A.  Utb.  697.    Cic  51.    Cois.— Cn.  Cotd.  Loit.  Marcelliuus.    L.  Mar.  Philippui. 


old  enemy,  Gabinius,  the  proconsul  of  Syria,  hav- 
ini2;  gained  some  advanta2;e  in  Judea  against  Aristo- 
bulus,  who  had  been  dethroned  by  Pompey,  and 
on  that  account  was  raising  troubles  in  the  country, 
sent  publick  letters  to  the  senate,  to  give  an  account 
of  his  victory,  and  to  beg  the  decree  of  a  thanks- 
giving for  it.  His  friends  took  the  opportunity  of 
moving  the  affair  in  Cicero's  absence,  from  whose 
authority  they  apprehended  some  obstruction  ;  but 
the  senate,  in  a  full  house,  slighted  his  letters  and 
rejected  his  suit :  an  affront  which  had  never  been 
offered  before  to  any  proconsul.  Cicero  w^as  in- 
finitely delighted  with  it,  calls  the  resolution  divine, 
and  was  doubly  pleased  for  its  being  the  free  and 
genuine  judgment  of  the  senate,  without  any  strug- 
gle or  influence  on  his  part ;  and  reproaching  Ga- 
binius wdth  it,  afterwards,  says,  that  by  this  act  the 
senate  had  declared,  that  they  could  not  believe 
that  he,  whom  they  had  always  known  to  be  a  trai- 
tor at  home,  coidd  ever  do  any  thing  abroad  that 
was  useful  to  the  republick.^ 

Many  prodigies  were  reported  to  have  happened 
about  this  time,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome  : 
horrible   noises   under   ground,    with   clashing   of 

ram.  Etiam  vellem  raihi  inittas  de  tuis  librariolis  duos  aliquos  qiiibu.«; 
TyraDnio  ulatur  glutinatoribus,  et  ad  caetera  administris.  Ad  Att. 
4.  4. 

Postea  veroquam  Tyrannio  mihi  libros  disposuit,  mens  addita  vide- 
tur  meis  aedibus :  qua  quidera  in  re,  mirifica  opera  Dionysii  et  Meno- 
phili  tui  fuit.     lb. 


).    o. 


*  Id.  Maiis  senalus  frequens  divinus  fuit  in  supplicatione  Gabiniode- 
neganda.  Adjurat  Procilius  hoc  nemini  accidisse.  Foris  valde  plandi- 
tur.  IMihicum  sua  sponte  jucundum.  turn  jucundius,  quod  me  abscnte, 
est  enim  exw^ivjf  judicium,  sine  oppugnatione,  sine  gratia  nostra.  Ad 
Quint.  2.  8.  ^  4.  5. 

Hoc  statuit  senalus,  cum  frequens  supplicationemGabiniodcnegavit. 
A  proditore,  atque  eo,  quein  praesentera  hoslem  Reipub.  cognovit 
bene  Kempub.  geri  non  potuisse.     De  Prov.  Consul.  6. 


62  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

arms  ;  and  on  the  Alban  hill,  a  little  shrine  of  Juno, 
which  stood  on  a  table  facinj^  the  east,  turned  sud- 
denly of  itself  towards  the  north.  These  terrours 
alarmed  the  city,  and  the  senate  consulted  the  ha- 
ruspices,  who  were  the  publick  diviners  or  pro- 
phets of  the  state,  skilled  in  all  the  Tuscan  disci- 
pline of  interpreting  portentous  events ;  who  gave 
the  following  answer  in  writhig  : — "  That  supplica- 
"  tions  must  be  made  to  Jupiter,  Saturn,  iNeptune, 
"  and  the  other  gods  :  that  the  solemn  shews  and 
"  plays  had  been  negligently  exhibited  and  pollut- 
"  ed :  sacred  and  religious  places  made  profane  : 
"  ambassadours  killed,  contrary  to  right  and  law : 
"  faith  and  oaths  disreo:arded  :  ancient  and  hidden 
'^sacrifices  carelessly  performed  and  profaned: — 
"  That  the  gods  gave  this  warning,  lest,  by  the  dis- 
'^  cord  and  dissension  of  the  better  sort,  dangers 
"  and  destruction  should  fall  upon  the  senate  and 
"  the  chiefs  of  the  city;  by  which  means  the  pro- 
♦'  vinces  would  fall  under  the  power  of  a  single 
•^  person ;  their  armies  be  beaten,  great  loss  ensue  ; 
*•  and  honours  be  heaped  on  the  unworthy  and  dis- 
"  graced."^— — 

One  may  observe,  from  this  answer,  that  the  di- 
viners were  under  the  direction  of  those  who  en- 
deavoured to  apply  the  influence  of  religion  to  the 
cure  of  their  civil  disorders  :  each  party  interpret- 
ed it  according  to  their  own  views  :  Clodius  took  a 
handle  from  it  of  venting  his  spleen  afresh  against 
Cicero  ;  and,  calling  th^  people  together  for  that 
purpose,  attempted  to  persuade  them,  "  that  this 
"  divine    admonition    was    designed    particularly 

*  VU\.  Arguiii.  Manutii  in  Orat.  de  Harusp.  respons.     Dio,  J.  39. 
p.  100. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  63 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

"  against  him  ;  and  that  the  article  of  the  sacred 
"  and  religious  places  referred  to  tlie  case  of  his 
"  house  ;  which,  after  a  solemn  consecration  to  re- 
"  ligion,  was  rendered  aoain  profane  ;  charoing  all 
"  the  displeasure  of  the  .2;ods  to  Cicero's  account, 
"  who  affected  nothing  less  than  a  tyranny,  and  the 
"  oppression  of  their  liberties."* 

Cicero  made  a  reply  to  Clodius,  the  next  day,  in 
the  senate  ;  where,  after  a  short  and  general  invec- 
tive upon  his  profligate  life,  "  he  leaves  him,"  he 
says,  "a  devoted  victim  to  Milo,  who  seemed  to 
"  be  given  to  them  by  heaven,  for  the  extinction  of 
"  such  a  plague  ;  as  Scipio  was  for  the  destruction 
"  of  Carthage  :  he  declares  the  prodigy  to  be  one 
"  of  the  most  extraordinary  which  had  ever  been 
"  reported  to  the  senate  ;  but  laughs  at  the  absur- 
"  dity  of  applying  any  part  of  it  to  him  ;  since  his 
"  house,  as  he  proves  at  large,  was  more  solemnly 
"  cleared  from  any  service  or  relation  to  religion, 
"  than  any  other  house  in  Rome,  by  the  judgment 
"  of  the  priests,  the  senate,  and  all  the  orders  of 
"  the  city."t  Then,  running  through  the  several 
articles  of  the  answer,  '-  he  shews  them  all  totally 
"  so  exactly  with  the  notorious  acts  and  impieties 
"  of  Clodius's  life,  that  they  could  not  possibly  be 

"  applied  to  any  thing  else that,  as  to  the  sports 

"  said  to  be  negligently  performed  and  polluted,  it 
"  clearly  denoted  the  pollution  of  the  IMegalensian 
"  play  ;  the  most  venerable  and  religious  of  all  oth- 
"  er  shews  ;  which  Clodius  himself,  as  aedile,  exhi- 
"  bited  in  honour  of  the  mother  of  the  gods ;  where, 
"  when  the  magistrates  and  citizens  were  seated,  to 
"  partake  of  the  diversions,  and  the  usual  procla- 

*  Dio.  Ibid  +  De  Hani«pic.  responsis. 


64  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  6Q7.    Cic.  51.    Cojs.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  PhilippuS. 


"  mation  was  made,  to  comniand  all  slaves  to  re- 
"  tire  ;  a  vast  body  of  them,  gathered  from  all  pails 
**  of  the  city,  by  the  order  of  Clodius,  forced  their 
"  way  upon  the  stage,  to  the  great  terrour  of  the 
"  assembly  ;  where  much  mischief  and  bloodshed 
"  would  have  ensued,  if  the  consul  Marcellinus,  by 
"  his  firmness  and  presence  of  mind,  had  not  quiet- 
"  ed  the  tumult :  and,  in  another  representation  of 
"  the  same  plays,  the  slaves,  encouraged  again  by 
"  Clodius,  were  so  audacious  and  successful  in  a 
"  second  irruption,  that  they  drove  the  whole  com- 
"  pany  out  of  the  theatre,  and  possessed  it  entirely 
"  themselves  :^  that  as  to  the  profanation  of  sacred 
"  and  religious  places ;  it  could  not  be  interpreted 
"  of  any  thing  so  aptly,  as  of  what  Clodius  and  his 
"  friends  had  done  :  for  that  in  the  house  of  Q.. 
"  Seius,  which  he  had  bought,  after  murthering  the 
"  owner,  there  was  a  chapel  and  altars  which  he  had 
"  lately  demolished :  that  L.  Piso  had  destroyed  a  ce- 
"  lebrated  chapel  of  Diana,  where  all  that  neighbour- 
"  hood,  and  some  even  of  the  senate,  used  annually  to 
"  perform  their  family  sacrifices :  that  Serranus  also 
"  had  thrown  down,  burnt,  and  profaned  several  con- 
"  secrated  cTiapels,  and  raised  other  buildings  upon 
"them  :t  that  as  to  ambassadours,  killed  contrary  to 
"  law  and  right,  though  it  was  commonly  interpreted 
'*  of  those  from  Alexandria,  yet  other  ambassadours 
"  had  been  murthered,  whose  death  was  no  less  offen- 
*'  sive  to  the  gods  ;  as  Theodosius,  killed  with  the 
"  privity  and  permission  of  Clodius ;  and  Plato,  by 
'*  the  order  of  Piso  :t  As  to  the  violation  of  faith 


*  De  Hanispic.  responsis,  10,  11,  12,  13.  f  Ibid.  14.  15. 

t  Ibid.  16, 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  65 

A.  Urh.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Mai'cellinus.    L.  Mar.  Phitippus. 

"  and  oaths,  that  it  related  evidently  to  those  judges 
"  who  had  absolved  Clodius ;  as  being  one  of  the 
"most  memorable  and  flagrant  perjuries  which 
"  Rome  had  ever  known ;  that  the  answer  itself 
"  suggested  this  interpretation,  when  it  subjoined, 
"  that  ancient  and  occult  sacrifices  were  polluted  ; 
*'  which  could  refer  to  nothing  so  properly  as  to 
"  the  rites  of  the  Bona  Dea ;  which  were  the  most 
"  ancient  and  the  most  occult  of  any  in  the  city  ; 
"  celebrated  with  incredible  secrecy  to  that  goddess, 
*'  whose  name  it  was  not  lawful  for  men  to  know ; 
''  and  with  ceremonies,  which  no  man  ever  pried 
''  into,  but  Clodius.'-^  Then  as  to  the  warning, 
"  given  by  the  gods,  of  dangers  likely  to  ensue 
"  from  the  dissensions  of  the  principal  citizens ; 
"  tliat  there  was  no  man  so  particularly  active  in 
"  promoting  those  dissensions,  as  Clodius ;  who  was 
"  perpetually  enflaming  one  side  or  the  other ; 
"now  pursuing  popular,  now  aristocratical  mea- 
**sures;  at  one  time  a  favourite  of  the  triumvi- 
"  rate,  at  another  of  the  senate  ;  whose  credit  was 
"  wholly  supported  by  their  quarrels  and  animo- 
"  sities.  He  exhorts  them,  therefore,  in  the  con- 
'^  elusion,  to  beware  of  falling  into  those  miseries, 
**  of  which  the  gods  so  evidently  forewarned  them  ; 
''  and  to  take  care,  especially,  that  the  form  of  the 
"  republick  was  not  altered  ;  since  all  civil  con- 
"  tests  between  great  and  powerful  citizens  must 
"  necessarily  end,  either  in  an  universal  destruc- 
"tion,  or  a  tyranny  of  the  conqueror:  that  the 
"  state  was  now  in  so  tottering  a  condition,  that 
"  nothing  could  preserve  it  but  their  concord  :  that 
"there  was    no   hope  of  its  being  better,   while 

-'■-  Tbid.  17,  18. 
VOL.    IT.  9 


66  T^HE  LIFE  OF  sect,  vr 


A.  Utb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  ]Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 


"  Clodius  remained  unpunished ;  and  but  one  de- 
"  ^ree  left  of  being  worse,  by  being  wholly  ruined 
"  and  enslaved ;  for  the  prevention  of  which,  the 
"  gods  had  given  them  this  remarkable  admoni- 
"  tion ;  for  they  were  not  to  believe,  what  was 
"sometimes  represented  on  the  stage,  that  any 
"god  ever  descended  from  heaven  to  converse 
"  familiarly  with  men  ;  but  that  these  extraordinary 
"  sounds  and  agitations  of  the  world,  the  air,  the 
"  elements,  were  the  only  voice  and  speech  which 
"  heaven  made  use  of;  that  these  admonished  them 
"  of  their  danger,  and  pointed  out  the  remedy ; 
"  and  that  the  gods,  by  intimating  so  freely  the 
"  way  of  their  safety,  had  shewn,  how  easy  it 
"  would  be  to  pacify  them,  by  pacifying  only 
"  their  own  animosities  and  discords  among  them- 
"  selves." 

About  the  middle  of  the  summer,  and  before 
the  titne  of  choosing  new  consuls,  whit  h  was  com- 
monly in  August,  the  senate  began  to  deliberate 
on  the  provinces,  which  were  to  be  assigned  to 
them  at  the  expiration  of  their  office.  The  con- 
sular provinces,  about  which  the  debate  singly 
turned,  were  the  two  Gauls,  which  Caesar  now 
held ;  Macedonia,  which  Fiso,  and  Syria,  which 
Gabinius  possessed.  All  w^ho  spoke  before  Ci- 
cero, excepting  Serviiius,  were  for  taking  one  or 
both  the  Gauls  from  Caesar ;  v*  hich  was  what  the 
senate  generally  desired :  but  when  it  came  to  Ci- 
cero's turn,  he  gladly  laid  hold  on  the  occasion  to 
revenge  himself  on  Piso  and  Gabinius ;  and  exert- 
ed all  his  authority,  to  get  tbem  recalled  with  some 
marks  of  disgrace,  and  their  <fovernoients,  assigned 
to  the  succeeding  consuls ;  but  as  for  Caesar,  his^ 


SECT.  VI,  CICERO.  67 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 


opinion  was,  "that  his  command  should  be  con- 
"  tinued  to  him  till  he  had  finished  the  war,  which 
"  he  was  carrying  on  with  such  success,  and  settled 
"  the  conquered  countries."  This  gave  no  small 
offence  ;  and  the  consul  Philippus  could  not  for- 
bear interrupting  and  reminding  him,  "  that  he 
"  had  more  reason  to  be  angry  with  Caesar,  than 
"with  Gabinius  himself;  since  Caesar  was  the  au- 
"  thor  and  raiser  of  all  that  storm  which  had  op- 
"  pressed  him.*'  But  Cicero  replied,  "  that,  in  this 
"  vote,  he  was  not  pursuing  his  private  resentment, 
"  but  the  publick  good,  which  had  reconciled  him 
''  to  Caesar  ;  and  that  he  could  not  be  an  enemy 
"  to  one  who  was  deservino;  so  well  of  his  coun- 
"try:  that  a  year  or  two  more  would  complete 
^'  his  conquests,  and  reduce  all  Gaul  to  a  state  of 
"  peaceful  subjection :  that  the  cause  was  widely 
"  different  between  Caesar  and  the  other  two ;  that 
"  Caesar's  administration  was  beneficial,  prosperous, 
"  glorious  to  the  republick  ;  theirs,  scandalous,  ig- 
"  nominious,  hurtful  to  their  subjects,  and  con- 
"  temptible  to  their  enemies." In  short,  he  ma- 
naged the  debate  so,  that  the  senate  came  fully 
into  his  sentiments,  and  decreed  the  revocation  of 
Piso  and  Gabinius.^ 


*  Itaque  ego  idem,  qui  nunc  consiilibus  iis,  qui  designati  erunt, 
Syriana,  Macedoniamque  decerno — Quod  si  essent  illi  optimi  viri, 
tamen  ego  raea  sententia  C.  Caesari  nondura  succedendum  putarein. 
Qua  de  re  dicara,  patres  conscript!,  quod  sentio,  atque  illara  inter- 
pellationem  farailiarissirai  mei,  qua  quallo  ante  interrupta  est  oratio 
niea.  iron  pertiinescarn.  Negat  me  vir  optiinus  inimiciorem  debere 
esse  Gabinio.  quam  Caesari ;  oninem  enim  illara  tempeslatexn,  cui 
cesserirn,  Caesare  impulsore  atque  adjutore  esse  exciiatam.  Cui  si 
primum  sic  respondeam,  me  communis  ulilitatis  habere  ratiouem, 
non  dolorls  mei. — Hie  me  mens  in  Rempub.  animus  p'istinusac  pe- 
rennis,  cum  C.  Caesare  reducit,  reconciliat,  restituit  in  gratiam. 
Quod  volent  denique  homines  existiment,  nemini  ego  possum  esse 
bene  de  Republica  merenti  non  amicus. — Vid.  Orat.  deProvin.  Cons. 
8,  9,  &c. 


68  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 


A.'Urb.  697.    Cic,  51.    Coss.—Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Fhilippus. 

He  was  now  likewise  engaged  in  plead  ino;  two 
considerable  causes  at  the  bar ;  the  one  in  defence 
of  Cornelius  Balbus,  the  other  of  M.  Coelius. 
Balbus  was  a  native  of  Gades  in  Spain,  of  a  splen- 
did family  in  that  city,  who,  for  his  fidelity  and 
services  to  the  Roman  generals  in  that  province, 
and  especially  in  the  Sertorian  war,  had  the  free- 
dom of  Rome  conferred  upon  him  by  Pompey,  in 
virtue  of  a  law,  which  authorised  him  to  grant  it 
to  as  many  as  he  thought  proper.  But  Pompey's 
act  was  now  called  in  question,  as  originally  null 
and  invalid,  on  a  pretence,  that  the  city  of  Gades 
was  not  within  the  terms  of  that  alliance  and  re- 
lation to  Rome,  which  rendered  its  citizens  ca- 
pable of  that  privilege.  Pompey  and  Crassus  were 
his  advocates,  and  at  their  desire,  Cicero  also; 
who  had  the  third  place,  or  post  of  honour  as- 
signed to  him,  to  give  the  finishing  hand  to  the 
cause.''^'  The  prosecution  was  projected,  not  so 
much  out  of  enmity  to  Balbus,  as  to  his  patrons 
Pompey  and  Caesar ;  by  whose  favour  he  had  ac- 
quired great  wealth  and  power  ;  being  at  this  time 
general  of  the  artillery  to  Caesar,  and  the  princi- 
pal manager  or  steward  of  all  his  affairs.  The 
judges  gave  sentence  for  him,  and  confirmed  his 
right  to  the  city ;  from  which  foundation  he  was 
raised  afterwards,  by  Augustus,  to  the  consulate 
itself:  his  nephew  also,  young  Balbus,  who  was 
made  free  with  him  at  the  same  time,  obtained  the 
honour  of  a  triumph,  for  his  victories  over  the 
Garamantes ;  and,  as  Pljny  tells  us,  they  were  the 

*  Quo  nailii  difficilior  est  hie  extremus  perorandi  locus. — Sed  mos 
est  gerendus,  iion  luodo  Cornelio,  cujus  ego  voluntati  in  ejus  pericu- 
lis  nullo  modo  deesse  possum  ;  sed  etiam  Cn.  Pompeio. — Pro  Balbo. 
1,  2,  &c. 


SECT.    V 


CICERO.  69 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Cass.— Cn.  Com.  hait.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 


only  instances  of  foreigners,  and  adopted  citizens, 
who  had  ever  advanced  themselves  to  either  of 
those  honours  in  Rome.* 

Coelius,  whom  he  next  defended,  was  a  young 
gentleman  of  equestrian  rank,  of  great  parts  and 
accomplishments,  trained  under  the  discipline  of 
Cicero  himself;  to  whose  care  he  was  committed 
by  his  father,  upon  his  first  introduction  into  the 
forum :  before  he  was  of  age  to  hold  any  magis- 
tracy, he  had  distinguished  himself  by  two  publick 
impeachments;  the  one  of  C.  Antonius,  Cicero's 
colleague  in  the  consulship,  for  conspiring  against 
the  state ;  the  other  of  L.  Atratinus,  for  bribery 
and  corruption.  Atratinus's  son  was  now  re- 
venging his  father's  quarrel,  and  accused  Coelius 
of  publick  violence,  for  being  concerned  in  the 
assassination  of  Dio,  the  chief  of  the  Alexandrian 
embassy  ;  and  of  an  attempt  to  poison  Clodia,  the 
sister  of  Clodius ;  he  had  been  this  lady's  gal- 
lant; whose  resentment  for  her  favours  slio:hted  by 
him,  was  the  real  source  of  all  his  trouble.  In 
this  speech,  Cicero  treats  the  character  and  gallan- 
tries of  Clodia,  her  commerce  with  Coelius,  and 
the  gayeties  and  licentiousness  of  youth,  with  such 
a  vivacity  of  wit  and  humour,  that  makes  it  one 
of  the  most  entertaifiing,  which  he  has  left  to  us. 
Coelius,  who  was  truly  a  libertine,  lived  on  the 
Palatine  hill,  in  a  house  which  he  hired  of  Clo- 
dius, and  among  the  other  proofs  of  his  extrava- 

*  Fuit  et  Balbus  Cornelius  major  consul—Primus  externorum,  at- 
que  etiam  in  oceano  genitornm  usus  illo  honore. — Hist.  N.  7.  43. 

Garama  caput  Garamantum  :  omnia  armis  Romanis  superata.  et 
aCornelio  Balbo  tiumphata,  uno  omnium  externo  curru  et  quiritiura 
Jure  donato :  quippe  Gadibus  nato  civitas  Rom.  cum  Balbo  majore 
patruo  data  est.     lb.  5.  5. 


70  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Ui-b.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  Marcellinus.  L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

gance,  it  was  objected,  that  a  young  man,  in  no 
publick  employment,  should  take  a  separate  house 
from  his  father,  at  the  yearly  rent  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds:  to  which  Cicero  replied,  that 
Clodius,  he  perceived,  had  a  mind  to  sell  his  house, 
by  setting  the  value  of  it  so  high ;  whereas  in 
truth,  it  was  but  a  little  paltry  dwelling,  of  small 
rent,  scarce  above  eighty  pounds  per  annum.* 
Coelius  was  acquitted,  and  ever  after  professed  the 
hiochest  regard  for  Cicero  ;  with  whom  he  held  a 
correspondence  of  letters,  which  will  give  us  oc- 
casion to  speak  more  of  him,  in  the  sequel  of  the 
history. 

Cicero  seems  to  have  composed  a  little  poem 
about  this  time,  in  compliment  to  Caesar;  and  ex- 
cuses his  not  sending  it  to  Atticus,  "  because  Caesar 
"  pressed  to  have  it,  and  he  had  reserved  no  copy : 
"  though,  to  confess  the  truth,  he  says,  he  found  it 
44  very'  difficult  to  digest  the  meanness  of  recant- 
"  ing'his  old  principles.  But  adieu,  says  he,  to  all 
'*  right,  true,  honest  councils :  it  is  incredible  what 
*'  perfidy  there  is  in  those  who  want  to  be  leaders, 
"  and  whoTeally  would  be  so,  if  there  was  any 
''  faith  in  them.  I  felt  what  they  were  to  my  cost, 
"  when  I  was  drawn  in,  deserted,  and  betrayed  by 
"  them ;  I  resolved  still  to  act  on  with  them  in  all 
"  things  ;  but  found  them  the  same  as  before,  till, 
"  by  your  advice,  I  came  at  last  to  a  better  mind. 
"  You  will  tell  me  that  you  advised  me  indeed  to 
"  act,  but  not  to   write  ;;  it  is  true  ;  but  I  was  wil- 

*  Suraptus  iinius  generis  objectus  est,  habitationis  :  triginta  milli- 
bus  dixistis  eura  haiiitare.  Nunc  demum  intelligo  P.  Clodii  insulara 
esse  venalera,  cujiis  hie  in  aediculis  habitet,  decern,  ut  opinor,  milU- 
bus. — Pro  Gael io.  7. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  71 


A.  Urb.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent  Marcellinus.  L.  Mai-.  Philippus, 


"  ling  to  put  myself  under  a  necessity  of  adhering 
'*  to  my  new  alliance,  and  preclude  the  possibility 
"  of  returning  to  those  who,  instead  of  pitying  me, 
"  as  they  ought,  never  ceased  envying  me. — But 
"  since  those  who  have  no  power  will  not  love  me, 
"  my  business  is  to  accjuire  the  love  of  those  who 
"  have  :  you  will  say,  J  wish  that  you  had  done  it 
"  long  ago ;  I  know  you  wished  it,  and  I  was  a 
"  mere  ass  for  not  minding  you."^ 

In  this  year  also,  Cicero  wrote  that  celebrated 
letter  to  Lucceius,  in  which  he  presses  him  to  at- 
tempt the  history  of  his  transactions :  Lucceius 
was  a  man  of  eminent  learning  and  abilities,  and 
had  just  finished  the  history  of  the  Italick  and  Marian 
civii  wars,  with  intent  to  carry  it  down  through  his 
own  times,  and  in  the  general  relation  to  include, 
as  he  had  promished,  a  particular  account  of  Ci- 
cero's acts  :  but  Cicero,  who  was  pleased  with  his 
stile  and  manner  of  writing,  labours  to  engage  him 
in  this  letter,  to  postpone  the  design  of  his  con- 
tinued history,  and  enter  directly  on  that  separate 
period,  "  from  the  beginning  of  his  consulship 
"  to  his  restoration,  comprehending  Catiline's  con- 

*  Urgebar  ab  eo.  ad  quem  raisi,  et  non  habebani  exempJar  :  quid  ? 
etiara,  (diidum  circumrodo,  qnod  devorandnm  est)  subtiapicula  mihi 
videbatur  Trctxim^tu. ;  sed  valrant  recta,  vera,  honesta  consilia.  JVon  est 
credibile,  quae  sit  perfidia  in  istis  principibus,  ut  volnnt  esse,  et  nt 
esseut,  si  quicquam  haberent  (idei.  benseram,  noram,  indnctus,  relic- 
tus,  projectus  ab  iis  :  tanien  hoc  erat  animo,  ut  cum  iis  in  Rep.  con- 
sentirem.  lidem  erant,  qui  fuerant.  Vix  aliquandf)  te  auctore  resipivj. 
Dices,  ea  te  monuisse,  quae  fiicerein,  non  etiain  ut  scriberem.  Ego 
inehercule  mihi  necessilatem  vohii  imponere  hiijus  novae  conjunc- 
tionis,  ne  qua  mihi  liceret  labi  ad  ilios,  qui  etiani  turn  cum  misereri 
raei  debent,  non  desinuol  invidere.  Sed  tamen  raodici  luiinus  t/VseiiTi/, 
ut  scripsi — Sed  quoniam  qui  nihil  possunt,  ii  me  amare  nolunt,  demu<? 
operam,  ut  ab  iis,  qui  possunt,  Idiligamur  :  dices,  vellem  janipridem. 
Scio  te  voluisse,  et  measinum  gcrmanum  tuisse. — Ad  Alt.  4,/). 

Sciibis  poemaab  eo  nostrum  probari. — Ad  diiint.  2.  !.'» 


72  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Cos8.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Mareellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus, 

"  spiracy,  and  his  own  exile."  He  observes,  "  that 
''  this  short  interval  was  distinguished  with  such  a 
"  variety  of  incidents,  and  unexpected  turns  of 
"  fortune,  as  furnished  the  happiest  materials,  both 
"  to  the  skill  of  the  writer  and  the  entertainment  of 
"the  reader:  that,  when  an  author's  attention  was 
"  confined  to  a  sinorle  and  select  subject,  he  was 
"  more  capable  of  adornini^  it,  and  displayino;  his 
"  talents,  than  in  the  wide  and  diffusive  field  of  g^e- 
"  neral  history ;  but  if  he  did  not  think  the  facts 
"  themselves  worth  the  pains  of  adorning,  that  he 
"  would  yet  allow  so  much  to  friendship,  to  affec- 
"  tion,  and  even  to  that  favour  which  he  had  so  iau- 
"  dablv  disclaimed  in  his  prefaces,  as  not  to  confine 
"  himself  scrupulously  to  the  strict  laws  of  history, 

"  and  the  rules  of  truth. That,  if  he  would  un- 

"  dertake  it,  he  would  supply  him  with  some  rough 
"  memoirs,  or  commentaries,  for  the  foundation  of 
"  his  work  ;  if  not,  that  he  himself  should  be  forced 
"  to  do,  what  many  had  done  before  him,  write  his 
"  own  life ;  a  task,  liable  to  many  exceptions  and 
"  difficulties,  where  a  man  would  necessarily  be  re- 
"  strained  by  modesty,  on  the  one  hand,  or  partiali- 
« ty  on  the^ther,  either  from  blaming  or  praising 
"  himself  so  much  as  he  deserved,"  &c.^ 

This  letter  is  constantly  alleged  as  a  proof  of 
Cicero's  vanity,  and  excessive  love  of  praise  ;  but 
Ave  must  consider  it  as  wrhten,  not  by  a  philoso- 
pher, but  a  statesman,  conscious  of  the  greatest 
services  to  his  country,  for  which  he  had  been  bar- 
barously treated,  and,  on  that  account,  the  more 
eager  to  have    them  represented  in  an   advanta- 

♦  Ep.  Fam.  12. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  rs 

A.  Urb.  697.    Cic  51.    Coss.— Cii.  Com.  Lent.  Mai-cellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

geous  light,  and  impatient  to  taste  some  part  of  that 
glory  when  living,  which  he  was  sure  to  reap  from 
them  when  dead  ;  and  as  to  the  passage  which 
gives  the  offence,  where  he  presses  his  friend  to 
exceed  even  the  bounds  of  truth  in  his  praises,  it 
is  urged  only,  we  see,  conditionally,  and  upon  an 
absurd  or  improbable  supposition,  that  Lucceius 
did  not  think  the  acts  themselves  really  laudable, 
or  worth  praising :  But  whatever  exceptions  there 
may  be  to  the  morality,  there  can  be  none  to  the  ele- 
gance and  composition  of  the  letter ;  which  is  filled 
with  a  variety  of  beautiful  sentiments,  illustrated 
by  examples  drawn  fri)m  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
history  ;  so  that  it  is  justly  ranked  among  the  capi- 
tal pieces  of  the  epistolary  kind,  which  remain  to 
us  from  antiquity.  Cicero  had  employed  more 
than  ordinary  pains  upon  it,  and  was  pleased  with 
his  success  in  it:  for  he  mentions  it  to  Atticus 
with  no  small  satisfaction,  and  wished  him  to  get 
a  copy  of  it  from  their  friend  Lucceius.  The  ef- 
fect of  it  was,  that  Lucceius  undertook  what  Ci- 
cero desired,  and  probably  made  some  progress  in  it, 
since  Cicero  sent  him  the  memoirs  which  he  promi- 
sed, and  Lucceius  lived  many  years  after,  in  an  unin- 
terrupted friendship  with  him,  though  neither  this, 
nor  any  other  of  his  writings,  had  the  fortune  to 
be  preserved  to  succeeding  ages.* 

All  people's  eyes  and  inclinations  began  now  to 
turn  towards  Caesar,  who  by  the  eclat  of  his  vic- 


*  Epistolam,  Lucceio  quara  misi— fac  ut  ab  eo  suinas :  valde  bel~ 
la  est :  eumqiie  ut  adproperet  adhorteris,  et,  quod  oiihi  se  ita  lactu^ 
nun  rescripsit,  agas  gratias.     Ad  Att.  4.  6. 

Tu  Lucceio  librum  nostrum  dabis.     Ibid.  11 

VOL,    II.  10 


74  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  vi, 

A.  Uib.  697.    Cic.  51.    Coss.— Cn.  Corn.  Lent.  Mavcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Fhilippus. 


tories,  seemed  to  rival  the  fame  of  Pompey  him- 
self; and,  by  his  address  and  generosity,  gained 
ground  upon  him  daily  in  authority  and  influence 
in  publick  affairs.  He  spent  the  winter  at  Luca ; 
whither  a  vast  concourse  of  all  ranks  resorted  to 
him  from  Rome.  Here  Pompey  and  Crassus  were 
again  made  friends  by  him  ;  and  a  project  formed, 
that  they  should  jointly  seize  the  consulship  for 
the  next  year,  though  they  had  not  declared  them- 
selves candidates  within  the  usual  time.  L.  Do- 
mitius  Ahenobarbus,  a  professed  enemy,  was  one 
of  the  competitors  ;  who,  thinking  himself  sure 
of  success,  could  not  forbear  bragging,  that  he 
would  effect,  when  consul,  what  he  could  not  do 
when  praetor,  rescind  Caesar's  acts,  and  recall  him 
from  his  government  ;^  which  made  them  resolve, 
at  all  hazards,  to  defeat  him.  What  greatly  favour- 
ed their  designs,  was,  the  obstinacy  of  the  tribune, 
C.  Cato;  who,  to  revenge  himself  on  Marcellinus,  for 
not  suffering  him  to  hold  any  assemblies  of  the  peo- 
ple, for  promulgating  his  laws,  would  not  suffer  the 
consuls  to  hold  any,  for  the  choice  of  the  magis- 
trates.f  The  triumvirate  supported  him  in  this  re- 
solution till"rtie  year  expired,  and  the  government 
fell  into  an  Inter-regnum ;  when,  by  faction  and 
violence,  and  the  terrour  of  troops  poured  into  the 
city,  they  extorted  the  consulship  out  of  the  hands 

*  Sed  cum  L.  Domitius  consnlatns  candidatus  palana  minaretur, 
coDsulem  se  effectuium,  quod  praetor  nequisset,  ademptummque  ei 
exerc.itns.  Crassura  Fonipeiumque  in  urbeiii  provinciae  suae  Lucam 
extractos  compulit,  ut  detrudendj  Domitii  causa  alterum  consulatum 
petereDt.     ISueton.  J.  Caes.  24. 

f  Consul — dies  comitiales  exemit  oinnes — C.  Cato  concionatus  est, 
comitia  haberi  non  situruin,  si  sibi  cum  populo  agendi  dies  esseut  ex-- 
erapti.     Ad  Quint.  2.  G. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO. 


A.  Uvb.  697.    Cic  51.    Cose.— Cn.  Com.  Lent.  Marcellinus.    L.  Mar.  Philippus. 

of  Domitius,  and  secured  it  to  themselves.^  This 
made  Pompey  generally  odious,  who,  in  all  this 
height  of  greatness,  could  not  defend  himself  from 
the  perpetual  railleries  and  insults  of  his  adversa- 
ries ;  which  yet  he  bore  with  singular  temper  and 
patience.  Marcellinus  was  constantly  alarming 
the  city  with  the  danger  of  his  power ;  and  as  he 
was  haranguing  one  day,  on  that  subject,  being  en- 
couraged by  a  general  acclamation  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  "  cry  out,  citizens,"  says,  he  "  cry  out  while 
"  you  may  ;  for  it  will  not  be  long  in  your  power 
"  to  do  so  with  safety."t  Cn.  Piso  also,  a  young 
nobleman,  who  had  impeached  Manilius  Crispus, 
a  man  of  praetorian  rank,  and  notoriously  guilty, 
being  provoked  by  Pompey 's  protection  of  him, 
turned  his  attack  against  Pompey  himself,  and 
charged  him  with  many  crimes  against  the  state  ; 
being  asked,  therefore,  by  Pompey,  w^hy  he  did 
not  choose  to  impeach  him,  rather  than  the  crimi- 
nal, he,  replied,  briskly,  that  if  he  would  give 
bail  to  stand  a  trial,  without  raising  a  civil  war,  he 
would  soon  bring  him  before  his  judges.J 


A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Porapelus  Magnus  II.  M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 

During  the  continuance  of  these  tumults,  oc- 
casioned by  the  election  of  the  new  consuls,  Cice- 

*  Quid  enira  hoc  raiserius,  quara  eiim,  qui  tot  annos,  quot  liabet, 
designatus  consul  tuerit,  consulem  fieri  non  posse  ?  etc.  Ad  Att.  4. 
8.     Vid.  Dio.  p.  103. 

t  Acclamate,  inquit,  Quirites,  acclaraate,  dura  licet :  jam  enim 
vobis  impune  facere  non  Iicel)it.     Val.  iMax.  6.  2. 

X  Da  inquit,  praedes  Reip.  te,  si  postulatus  fueris,  civile  bellum  noi) 
excitaturum;  etiam  de  tuo  prius,  quam  de  Manilii  capitc,  in  concili- 
um judices  raittam.     Ibid. 


U  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  ru 


A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Porapeius  Magnus  II.    :M.  Licinius  Crassus.  II. 

ro  retired  into  the  country ;  where  he  staid  to  the 
beginning  of  May,  much  out  of  humour,  and  dis- 
gusted both  with  the  republick  and  himself.     Atti- 
cus's  constant  advice  to  him  was,  to  consult  his  safety 
and  interest,  by  uniting  himself  with  the  men  of 
power ;  and  they,  on  their  part,  were  as  constant- 
ly inviting  him  to  it,  by  all  possible  assurances  of 
their  affection  :  but,  in  his  answers  to  Atticus,  he 
observes :  "  that  their  two  cases  were  very  differ- 
^^  ent;  that  Atticus,  having  no  peculiar  character,  suf- 
"feredno  peculiar  indignity ;  nothing  but  what  was 
"  common  to  all  the  citizens  ;  whereas  his  own  con- 
"  dition  was  such,  that  if  he  spoke  what  he  ouo;ht 
^'  to  do,  he  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  madman  ; 
''  if  what  was  useful  only  to  himself,  as  a  slave  ; 
"  if  nothing  at  all,  as  quite  oppressed  and  subdued  : 
'^  that   his  uneasiness  was  the  greater,  because  he 
"  could  not  shew  it  without  being  thought  ungrat^- 
'^  ful : — Shall  I  withdraw  myself  then,"   says   he, 
*'  from  business,  and  retire  to  the  port  of  ease  ?  That 
*''  will  not  be  allowed  to  me.     Shall  I  follow  these 
"  leaders  to  the  wars,  and,  after  having  refused  to 
*^  command^  submit  to   be   commanded  ?  I  will  do 
"  so  ;  for  I  see  that  it  is  your  advice,  and  wish 
''  that  I  had  always  followed  it :    or,    shall  I   re-^ 
"  sume  my  post,  and  enter  again    into   affairs  ?  I 
^'  cannot   persuade   myself  to   that,   but  begin  to 
"think  Philoxenus  in  the  right;  who  chose  to  be 
''  carried  back  to  prison,  rather  than  commend  the 
"  tyrant's  verses.     This  is  what  I  am  now  meditat- 
^'  ing ;  to  declare  my  dislike  at  least  of  what  they 
''  are  doing,"^ 

*  Tii  qnidera,  etsi  es  natura  ?ro\iTtKoc,  tamen  niillam  habcv'?  propri-^ 
am  servitiitem  :  coiurauni  frueris  nomine.  Ego  vero,  qui,  si  loquor 
j3e  Repub.  quod  oportet,  insanns;  si  quod  opus  est,  servus  existimor; 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  77 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.  ^L    Licinius  Crassus  IL 

Such  were  the  agitations  of  his  mind  at  this 
tiaie,  as  he  frequently  signifies  in  his  letters :  he 
was  now  at  one  of  his  villas  on  the  delightful 
shore  of  Baiae,  the  chief  place  of  resort  and  plea- 
sure for  the  great  and  rich :  Pompey  came  thither 
in  April,  and  no  sooner  arrived,  than  he  sent  him 
his  compliments,  and  spent  his  whole  time  with 
him  :  they  had  much  discourse  on  publick  affairs, 
in  which  Pompey  expressed  2;reat  uneasiness,  and 
owned  himself  dissatisfied  with  his  own  part  in 
them ;  but  Cicero,  in  his  account  of  the  conver- 
sation, intimates  some  suspicion  of  his  sincerity.* 
In  the  midst  of  this  company  and  diversion,  Ci- 
cero's entertainment  was  in  his  studies ;  for  he 
never  resided  any  where  without  securing  to  him- 
self the  use  of  a  good  library  :  here  he  had  the 
command  of  Faustus's,  the  son  of  Sylla,  and  son- 
in-law  of  Pompey ;  one  of  the  best  collections  of 
Italy  ;  gathered  from  the  spoils  of  Greece,  and  es- 
pecially of  Athens,  from  which  Sylla  brought  away 
many  thousand  volumes.  He  had  no  body  in  the 
house  with  him,  but  Dionysius,  a  learned  Greek 


si  taceo,  oppressus  et  captiis  ;  quo  dolore  esse  debeo  ?  quo  sum  scili- 
cet hoc  etiain  acriore,  quod  ne  doleie  quidem  possum,  ut  non  ingra- 
tus  videar.  Uuid  si  cessare  libeat  et  in  otii  portum  conlugere  ?  iVe- 
quicquam.  Immo  etiam  in  bellura  et  in  castra  :  ergo  erimus  maSot^ 
qui  T4>!ii  esse  noluimus  ?  Sic  faciendum  est ;  tibi  enim  ipsi,  cui  uii- 
nam  semper  parnissem,  sic  video  placere.  I^eliqui  est,  Im^^v  fxa;^«?, 
T«t/Tstv  Kca-fxti;  non  niehercule  possum:  et  Philoxeno  ignosto.  qui  re- 
du'^i  in  carcereni  maluit.  Veruntamen  id  ipsum  mecum  in  his  Jocis 
coramentor,  ut  ista  iinprobem. — Ad  Att.  4.  G. 

T*he  story  of  Dioiiysius  the  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  and  Philoxenus  the 
poet,  is  told  by  Diodorus  Siculus.     Lib.  I.*),  p.  331. 

*  Poinpeius  in  Cumanum  Parilibus  venit :  misit  ad  me  statim  qui 
salutem  nuntiaret  :  ad  cum  postridie  mane  vadebam Ad  Att.  4.  x. 

Nos  hie  cum  Ponipeio  fuimus  :  sane  sibi  displicens  ut  loquebatur; 
sic  est  enim  in  hoc  homine  dicendum. — In  nos  vero  sua?issime  effusns  : 
yenit  etiam  ad  me  in  Cumanum. — lb.  9. 


78  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cq,  Fompeius  Magnus  II.  M.    Licinius  Crassus  II. 


slave,  whom  Atticus  had  made  free,  and  who  was 
entrusted  with  the  instruction  of  the  two  young 
Ciceros,  the  son  and  the  nephew  :  "  with  this  com- 
"  panion  he  was  devouring  books,  since  the  wretch- 
"  ed  state  of  the  publick  had  deprived  him,"  as  he 
tells  us,  "  of  all  other  pleasures.  I  had  much 
*'  rather,"  says  he  to  Atticus,  "  be  sitting  on  your 
"  little  bench  under  Aristotle's  picture,  than  in  the 
"  curule  chairs  of  our  great  ones  ;  or  taking  a  turn 
"  with  you,  in  your  walks,  than  with  him  whom  it 
"  must,  I  see,  be  my  fate  to  walk  with  :  as  for 
"  the  success  of  that  walk,  let  fortune  look  to  it,  or 
"  some  god,  if  there  be  any,  who  takes  care  of  us."^ 
He  mentions  in  the  same  letter  a  current  report  at 
Puteoli,  that  king  Ptolemy  was  restored ;  and  de- 
sires to  know  what  account  they  had  of  it  at 
Rome  :  the  report  was  very  true  ;  for  Gabinius, 
tempted  by  Ptolemy's  gold  and  the  plunder  of 
Egypt;, and  encouraged  also,  as  some  write,  by 
Pompey  himself,  undertook  to  replace  him  on  the 
throne  with  his  Syrian  army ;  which  he  executed 
with  a  high  hand,  and  the  destruction  of  all  the 
king's  enemie^;  in  open  defiance  of  the  authority 
of  the  senate  and  the  direction  of  the  Sibyl :  this 
made  a  great  noise  at  Rome,  and  irritated  the 
people   to  such  a  degree,  that  they  resolved  to 

*  Ego  hie  pascor  BibliothecaFausti.  Fortasse  tu  putabas  his  rebus 
Puteolanis  et  Lucrinensibus.  Ne  ista  quidem  desuut.  Sed  meher- 
ciile  a  caeteris  oblectationibus  deseror  et  vohiptatibus  propter  Rera- 
pub.  sic  Uteris  sustentor  et  recreor;  maloque  in  ilia  tiia  sedecula, 
cjuain  habes  sub  imagine  Aristotelrs,  sedere,  quam  in  istorum  sella 
c'urnli ;  tecuinque  apnd  te  ambulare,  quam  cum  eo,  quocum  video 
esse  ambulandum.  Sed  de  ilia  ambulatione  tors  videret,  aut  si  qui 
est,  qui  curet,  Deus.     lb.  10. 

Nos  hie  voraraus  literas  cum  homine  rairifico,  ita  mehercule  sentio, . 
Dionysio.   lb  11. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  79 


A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pomi)eiu9  Magnus  II.  M.     Licinius  Crassus  II. 


make  him  feel  their  displeasure  for  it,  very  severe- 
ly,  at  his  return."* 

His  coUeaojue  Piso  came  home  the  first  from 
his  nearer   government    of  Macedonia ;   after  an 
inglorious  administration  of  a  province,  whence  no 
consular  senator  had  ever  returned  but  to  a  tri- 
umph.    For  though  on  the  account  of  some  trifling 
advantage  in  the   field,  he  had  procured  himself 
to  be  saluted  emperour  by  his  army,  yet  the  oc- 
casion was  so  contemptible,  that  he  durst  not  send 
any  letters  upon  it  to  the  senate  :  but,  after  op- 
pressing the  subjects,  plundering  the   allies,  and 
losing    the   best   part  of   his   troops    against  the 
neiglibouring    barbarians,   who   invaded   and   laid 
waste  the  country,  he  ran  away,  in  disguise,  from 
a  mutiny  of  the  soldiers,  whom  he  disbanded  at 
last,   without  their  pay.f      When   he   arrived  at 
Rome,  he  stript  his    fasces  of  their  laurel,  and  en- 
tered the  city  obscurely  and  ignominiously,  with- 
out any  other  attendance  than  his  own  retinue.J 
On  his  first  appearance  in  publick,  trusting  to  the 
authority   of  his  son-in-law,    Caesar,  he  had    the 

*  Vid.  Dio.  1.39.  p.  116.  etc. 

f  Ex  qua  aliquot  praetorio  imperio,  consiilaris  quidein  nemo  rediit. 
qui  incolumis  fuerit,  qui  non  triumphant.     In  Pisou.  16. 

Ut  ex  ea  provinoia,  quae  Cuit  ex  omnibus  una  maxirae  triumphalis. 
i>ullas  sit  ad  senatum  litteras  mittere  ausus.  Nuntius  ad  senatum 
missus  est  nullus.     lb.  19. 

Mitto  de  afnissa  maxima  parte  exercitus. — 20. 

Dyrrhachium  ut  venit  decedens,  obsessus  est  ab  iis  ipsis  miiitibus. 
Quibus  cum  juratus  affirmasset,  se,  quae  deberentiir,  postero  die  per- 
soluturum ;  domum  se  abdidit :  inde  nocte  intenipesta  crepidatus, 
veste  servili  navem  conscendit. — 38. 

X  Sic  iste — Macedonicus  Imperatof  in  urbem  se  intulit,  ut  nullius 
negotiatoris  obscurissimi  reditus  unquam  fuerit  desertior — 23. 

C»»m  Ui — detractam  e  crnentis  fascibns  lanream  ad  portam  Ksquili- 
cam  abjpctisti      lb   20. 


80  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  693.     Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.    M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 

hardiness  to  attack  Cicero  and  complain  to  the  se- 
nate of  his  injurious  treatment  of  him  :  but  when 
he  beo;an  to  reproach  him  with  the  disgrace  of 
his  exile,  the  whole  assembly  interrupted  him  by 
a  loud  and  g^eneral  clamour.^  Among  other  things 
with  which  he  upbraided  Cicero,  he  told  him, 
that  it  was  not  any  envy  for  what  he  had  done, 
but  the  vanity  of  what  he  had  said,  which  had 
driven  him  into  exile  ;  and  that  a  single  verse  of  his^ 

Cedant  anna  togae,  concedat  laurea  linguae^ 

was  the  cause  of  all  his  calamity  ;  by  provoking 
Pompey  to  make  him  feel  how  much  the  power  of 
the  general  was  superiour  to  that  of  the  orator :  he 
put  him  in  mind  also,  that  it  was  mean  and  unge- 
nerous to  exert  his  spleen  only  against  such,  whom 
he,  had  reason  to  contemn,  without  daring  to  med- 
dle with  those  who  had  more  power,  and  where  his 
resentment  was  more  due.f  But  it  had  been  bet- 
ter for  him  to  have  stifled  his  complaints,  and  suf- 
fered Cicero  to  be  quiet ;  who,  exasperated  by  his 
imprudent  attack,  made  a  reply  to  him  upon  the 
spot  in  an  illVective  speech,  tlie  severest,  perhaps, 
that  was  ever  spoken  by  any  man,  on  the  person, 
the  parts,  the  whole  life  and  conduct  of  Piso ;  which, 
as  long  as  the  Roman  name  subsists,  must  deliver 

*  Time  ausiis  es  meum  discessum  ilium — maledicti  et  contumeliae 
loco  ponere  ?  ^-iuo  qiiidera  tempore  cepi,  patres  conscripli,  fructum 
immortalem  vesiri  in  me  amoris — qui  non  admurmiiratione,  scd  voce 
et  clamore  abjecti  hominis — petiilantiam  fregistis.     Ibid.  14. 

f  Non  ulla  tibi,  inqiiit,  invidianocuit,  sed  versus  tui.  Haec  res  tibi 
fluctus  illos  excitavit.  Tuae  dicis,  inquit,  togae,  summum  imperalo- 
rem  esse  cessurum. 

Paulo  ante  dixisti  me  cum  iis  confiigere  quos  despicerem  ;  non  at- 
tingere  eos,  qui  plus  possent,  quibus  iratus  esse  deberem.  Ibid.  29, 
30,  31. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  81 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Ponipeius  Rlagnus  11.    M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 


down  a  most  detestable  character  of  him  to  all  pos- 
terity. As  to  the  verse,  with  which  he  was  ur«ed, 
he  ridicules  the  absurdity  of  Piso's  application  of 
it,  and  tells  him,  "  that  he  had  contrived  a  very  ex- 
"  traordinary  punishment  for  poor  poets,  if  they 
"  were  to  be  banished  for  every  bad  Tine  :  that  he 
"  was  a  critick  of  a  new  kind ;  not  an  Aristarchus, 
"  but  a  grammatical  Phalaris  ;  who,  instead  of  ex- 
"  punging  the  verse,  w^as  for  destroying  the  au- 
"  thor :  that  the  verse  itself  could  not  imply  any 
"  affront  to  any  man  whatsoever:  that  he  was  an 
"  ass,  and  did  not  know  his  letters,  to  imagine,  that 
"  by  the  gown,  he  meant  his  own  gown  ;  or  by  arms, 
"  the  arms  of  any  particular  general ;  and  not  to  see 
"  that  he  was  speaking  only  in  the  poetical  style  ; 
"  and  as  the  one  was  the  emblem  of  peace,  the  oth- 
"  er  of  war,  that  he  could  mean  nothing  else,  than 
"  that  the  tumults  and  dangers,  with  which  the  city 
"  had  been  threatened,  must  now  give  way  to  peace 
"  and  tranquillity  :  that  he  might  have  stuck  a  lit- 
"  tie  indeed  in  explaining  the  latter  part  of  the 
"  verse,  if  Piso  himself  had  not  helped  him  out ; 
"  who,  by  trampling  his  own  laurel  under  foot  at 
"  the  gates  of  Rome,  had  declared  how  much  he 
"  thought  it  inferiour  to  every  other  kind  of  ho- 
*'  nour : — that  as  for  Pompey,  it  was  siUy  to  think, 
"  that,  after  the  volumes  which  he  had  written  in 
"  his  praise,  one  silly  verse  should  make  him  at  last 
*'  his  enemy :  but  that,  in  truth,  he  never  was  his 
"  enemy  ;  and  if,  on  a  certain  occasion,  he  had 
"  shewn  any  coldness  towards  him,  it  was  all  owing 
"  to  the  periidy  and  malice  of  such  as  Piso  ;  who 
*^  were  continually  infusing  jealousies  and  suspi- 
''  cions  into  him,  till  they  had  removed  from  his 

VOL.    II.  11 


S2  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.    vi. 

A.  Urb.  698     Cic.  5-.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompcius  Magnus  II.    M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 

"  confidence  all  who  loved  either  him  or  the  repiib- 
''  lick."^ 

About  this  time  the  theatre,  which  Pompey  had 
built  at  his  own  charge,  for  the  use  and  ornament 
of  the  city,  was  solemnly  opened  and  dedicated  :  it 
is  much  celebrated  by  the  ancients  for  its  grandeur 
and  magnificence  :  the  plan  was  taken  from  the  the- 
atre of  Mytilene,  but  greatly  enlarged,  so  as  to  re- 
ceive commodiously  forty  thousand  people.  It  was 
surrounded  by  a  portico,  to  shelter  ihe  company 
in  bad  weather,  and  had  a  curia,  or  senate-house  an- 
nexed to  it ;  with  a  basilica  also,  or  grand  hall,  pro- 
per for  the  sittings  of  judges,  or  any  other  publick 
business :  which  were  all  finished  at  Pompey 's  cost, 
and  adorned  with  a  great  number  of  images,  form- 
ed by  the  ablest  masters,  of  men  and  women,  fam- 
ed for  something  very  remarkable  or  prodigious  in 
their  lives  and  characters.!  Atticus  undertook 
the  care  of  placing  all  these  statues,  for  which 

*  Quoniam  te  non  4ristarchnm,  sed  grammaticiim  Phalarini  liabe- 
raus.  qui  non  notam  apponas  ad  malnm.versum,  sed  poetain  armis  pro- 
seqiiare.  Quid.4)nnc  te,  asine,  literas  doceam  ?  Non  dixi  hane  to- 
gain,  qua  sum  amictus,  nee  arma,  scutum  et  gladium  unius  iinperato- 
ris  :  sed  quod  pacis  est  insigne  et  otii,  toga;  contra  autem  arma, 
tumultus  ac  belli,  more  poetarura  locutus,  hoc  inteiligi  volui,  bellura 
ac  tnnuiltum  paci  atque  otio  concessurum — in  altero — haererem,  nisi 
tu  expedisses.  Nam  cum  tu — detractam  e  cruentis  fascibus  lauream 
ad  p  nam  Ksquiiinam  abjecisti,  indicasti,  non  modo  amplissimae,  sed 
etiam  minimae  laudi  lauream  concessisse.  Vis  Pompeium  isto  versu 
inimicum  mihi  esse  factum.  Primo  nonue  compensabit  cum  uno  ver- 
siculo  tot  mea  volumina  laudum  snarum  ?  Vestrae  fraudes,— vestrac 
criminationes  insidiarum  mearum — effecerunt  ut  ego  escluderer,  etc. 
In  Pison.  30,  31.  i 

t  Pompeins  Magnus  in  ornamentis  theatri  mirabiles  fama  posuit 
imagines;  ob  id  diligentius  magnorum  artiticum  ingt  niis  elahoratas  : 
inter  quas  legitur  Knlythe.  a  viginti  liberis  rogo  illala^  euixa  triginta 
partus;  Alcippe,  Klephantum.     Plin.  Hist.  7.  3. 


sE€T.  VI.  CICERO.  83 

A.  Urb.  698.     Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Ponipeius  Magnus  II.    M.  Licxnius  Crassus  II. 

Pompey  charo;ed  Cicero  with  his  thanks  to  him  :* 
but  what  made  this  f  ibrick  the  more  surprisinj^  and 
splendid,  was  a  beautiful  temple,  erected  at  one 
end  of  it  to  Venus  the  conqueress ;  and  so  contriv- 
ed, that  the  seats  of  the  theatre  might  serve  as  stairs 
to  the  temple.  This  was  designed,  it  is  said,  to 
avoid  the  reproach  of  making  so  vast  an  expense 
for  the  mere  use  of  luxury  ;  the  temple  being  so 
placed,  that  those  who  came  to  the  shews  might 
seem  to  come  to  w^orship  the  goddess.f 

At  the  solemnity  of  this  dedication,  Pompey 
entertained  the  people  with  the  mo^t  magnificent 
shews  which  had  ever  been  exhibited  in  Rome  :  in 
the  theatre,  were  stage-plays,  prizes  of  musick, 
wrestling,  and  all  kinds  of  bodily  exercises  :  in  the 
circus,  horse-races,  and  huntings  of  wild  beasts,  for 
five  days  successively ;  in  which  five  hundred  lions 
were  killed ;  and  on  the  last  day,  twenty  elephants : 
whose  lamentable  howling,  when  mortally  wound- 
ed, raised  such  a  commiseration  in  the  multitude, 
from  a  vulgar  notion  of  their  great  sense  and  love 
to  man,  that  it  destroyed  the  whole  diversion  of 
the   shew,  and   drew  curses  on  Pompey  himself, 


*  Tibi  etiam  gratias  agebat,  quod  signa  compooeuda  suscepisses. 
Ad  Att.  1.  9. 

f  Qniuti  Pompeius,  inquit,  acdem  Victoriae  dedicaturns  esset,  cu- 
jus  gradus  vicem  theatri  essent,  etc.  A  Gell.  X.  1.  Vid.  TertuII. 
de  Spectac. 

Dion  Cassiiis  raeotions  it,  as  a  tradition  he  had  met  with,  that 
this  theatre  was  not  really  built  by  Pompey,  but  by  his  freed- 
man  Demetrius,  who  had  made  himself  richer  than  his  master,  by 
attendins;  him  in  bis  wars ;  and  to  take  off' the  envy  of  raising  so  vast 
ail  estate,  laid  out  'a  considerable  part  of  it  upon  the  theatre,  and 
gave  the  honour  of  it  to  Pompey.  Dio,  p.  107.  Senec.  de  Tranq- 
Anim.  c.  8. 


84  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52,    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.    M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 


for  being  the  author  of  so  much  cruelty.*  So 
true  it  is,  what  Cicero  observes  of  this  kind  of 
prodigality ;  that  there  is  no  real  dignity  or  last- 
ing honour  in  it ;  that  it  satiates,  while  it  pleases, 
and  is  forgotten,  as  soon  as  it  is  over.f  It  gives 
us  however  a  genuine  idea  of  the  wealth  and 
grandeur  of  these  principal  subjects  of  Rome  : 
Avho,  from  their  private  revenues,  could  raise  such 
noble  buildings,  and  provide  such  shews,  from  the 
several  quarters  of  the  world,  which  no  monarch 
on  earth  is  now  able  to  exhibit. 

Cicero,  contrary  to  his  custom,  was  present  at 
these  shews,  out  of  compliment  to  Pompey,  and 
gives  a  particular  account  of  them  to  his  friend 
M.  Marius,  who  could  not  be  draw^n  by  them  from 
his  books  and  retreat  in  the  country.  "  The  old. 
"  actors,"  says  he,  "  who  had  left  the  stage,  came 
"on  to  it  again,  in  honour  of  Pompey;  but,  for 
"  the  sake  of  their  own  honour,  ought  rather  to 
"  have  staid  away  ;  our  friend  Aesopus  appeared  to 
"  be  quite  sunk  and  worn  out ;  so  that  all  people 
"  seemed  willing  to  grant  him  his  quietus :  for  in 

;^;^5 

*  Magnificentissima  vero  Pompeii  nostri  miinera  in  secundo  Ctm- 
sulatu.     De  Off.  2.  10. 

Pompeii  quoque  altero  Cousulatu,  dedicatione  templi  Veneris  Vic« 

tricis,    pngnare   in   Circo   viginli   elephantes Amissa    fiigae    spe 

misericordiam  vulgi  inenarrabili  habitii  qnerentes  siipplicavere,  qua- 
dam  sese  lainentatione  fomplorantes,  tanto  popnii  dolore,  ut  oblitus 
imperatoris — Mens  universus  consnrgeret,  dirasque  Pompeio,  quas 
ille  mox  liiit,  poenas  imprecaretur. — Pliu.  I.  8.  7.  Vid.  Die,  1.  39.  p. 
107.     It  Plutar.  in  Pomp. 

f  In  his  infinitis — sumptibus,  nihil  nos  inagnopere  mirari  :  cnm 
nee  necessitati  subveniatur,  nee  dignitas  augeatur :  ipsaque  ilia  de- 
lectatio  miiltitndinis  sit  ad  breve  exigiuimque  tempus — in  quo  tamen 
ipso,  una  cum  satietate  memoria  quoque  inoriatur  voluptatis. — De 
Off.  2.  16, 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  85 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.    M.  Liciuius  Crassus  II. 

**  attempting  to  raise  his  voice,  where  he  had  occa- 
"  sion  to  swear,  his  speech   faultered   and   failed 

*'him. In  the  other  plays,  the  vast  apparatus, 

"  and  crouded  machinery,  which  raised  the  ad- 
"  miration  of  the  mob,  spoiled  the  entertainment : 
"  six  hundred  mules,  infinite  treasures  of  plate, 
"  troops  of  horse  and  foot  fii^htinjj  on  the  stage. — 
"  The  huntings  indeed  were  magnificent,  but  what 
"pleasure  to  a  man  of  taste,  to  see  a  poor  weak 
"  fellow  torn  to  pieces  by  a  fierce  beast ;  or  a 
"  noble  beast  struck  dead  with  a  spear :  the  last 
"day's  shew  of  elephants,  instead  of  delight,  raised 
"  a  general  compassion,  and  an  opinion  of  some 
"  relation  between  that  animal  and  man  :  but  least 
"  you  should  think  me  w  holly  happy,  in  these 
"  days  of  diversion,  I  have  almost  burst  myself  in 
"  the  defence  of  your  friend  Gallus  Caninius.  If 
"the  city  would  be  as  kind  to  me,  as  they  are  to 
"  Aesopus,  I  would  willingly  quit  the  stage,  to  live 
"  with  you,  and  such  as  you,  in  a  polite  and  libe- 
'^ral  ease."^ 

The  city  continued  for  a  great  part  of  this  sum- 
mer, without  its  annual  magistrates  :  for  the  elec- 
tions which  had  been  postponed  from  the  last  year, 
were  still  kept  off  by  the  consuls,  till  they  could 
settle  them  to  their  minds,  and  secure  them  to 
their  own  creatures :  w  hich  they  effected,  at  last, 
except  in  the  case  of  two  tribunes,  who  slipt  into 
the  office  against  their  will:  but  the  most  re- 
markable repulse  w^as,  of  i\l.  Cato  from  the  prae- 
torship,  which  was  given  to  Yatinius ;  from  tiie 
best  citizen,  to  the  worst.     Cato,  upon  his  return 

*  Ep.  Fam.  7.  1. 


86  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  vi, 


A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.   M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 

from  the  Cyprian  voyage,  was  coaipliuaynted  by 
the  senate  for  that  service  with  the  offer  of  the 
praetorship  in  an  extraordinary  manner.^  But  he 
declined  the  compliment,  thinking  it  more  ao;reea- 
ble  to  his  character,  to  obtain  it  in  the  ordinary 
way,  by  the  free  choice  of  the  people  :  but  when 
the  election  came  on,  in  which  he  was  thou;>;ht 
sure  of  success,  Pompey  broke  up  the  assembly, 
on  pretence  of  somewhat  inauspicious  in  tlie  hea- 
vens, and  by  intrigue  and  management,  got  Vati- 
nius  declared  praetor,  who  had  been  repulsed  the 
year  before  with  disgrace  from  the  aedileship  :t 
but  this  being  carried  by  force  of  money,  and 
likely  to  produce  an  impeachment  of  Yatinius, 
Afranius  moved  for  a  decree,  that  the  praetors 
should  not  be  questioned  for  bribery  after  their 
election  ;  which  passed,  against  the  general  humour 
of  the  senate ;  with  an  exception  only  of  sixty 
days,  in  which  they  were  to  be  considered  as  private 
men.  The  pretence  for  the  decree  was,  that  so 
much  of  the  year  being  spent,  the  whole  would 
pass  without  any  praetors  at  all,  if  a  liberty  of  im- 
peaching was  allowed :  from  this  moment,  says  Ci- 
cero, they  lT2rve  given  the  exclusion  to  Cato  ;  and, 
being  masters  of  all,  resolve  that  all  the  world  shall 
know  it. J 


*  Ciijns  ministerii  gratia  senatus  relationem  interponi  jiibebat,  ut 
praetoriis  comitiis  extra  ordinem  ratio  ejus  habeietur.  .Sed  ipse  id 
fieri  passus  non  est. Val.  Max.  4.  1.  Plutar.  in  Cato. 

f  Proxiraa  deraentiae  suffragia — qiioniam  quem  honorera  Catoni 
negavenint,  Vatinio  dare  coacti  sUnt.     Val.  Max.  7.  5.  PJut.  in  Pomp. 

I  A.  D.  Hi.  id.  Maii  S.  C.  factum  est  de  arabitu  in   Afrauii  senten- 

tiam. Sed  maguo  cum  gemitu  senatus.     Consules  non  sunt   perse- 

cuti  eorura  sententias;  qui  Afranio  cum  essent  assensi  addiderunt,  ut 
praetores  ita  crearentur,  ut  dies  LX.  privati  essent.  Eo  die  Catonem 
plane  repudiarunt.  Quid  multa?  Teneot  omnia,  idque  ita  oranes  in- 
telligere  volunt.     Ad  Quint.  2.  9. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  sr 

A.  Vtb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.   M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 

Cicero's  Palatine  house,  and  the  adjoinino^  porti- 
co of  Catulus,  were  now  finished ;  and  as  he  and 
his  brother  were  the  curators  likewise  of  the  re- 
pairs of  the  temple  of  Tellus,*  so  they  seem  to 
have  provided  some  inscriptions  for  these  build- 
inojs,  in  honour  and  memory  of  themselves :  but 
since  no  publick  inscriptions  could  be  set  up,  un- 
less by  publick  authority,  they  were  apprehensive 
of  an  opposition  from  Clodius.  Cicero  mentioned 
the  case  to  Pompey,  who  promised  his  assistance, 
but  advised  him  to  talk  also  with  Crassus,  which  he 
took  occasion  to  do,  as  he  attended  him  home  one 
day  from  the  senate.  Crassus  readily  undertook 
the  affair,  and  told  him,  that  Clodius  had  a  point  to 
carry  for  himself  by  Pompey 's  help  and  his,  and 
that  if  Cicero  would  not  oppose  Clodius,  he  was 
persuaded  that  Clodius  would  not  disturb  him  ;  to 
which  Cicero  consented.  Clodius's  business  was, 
to  procure  one  of  those  free  or  honorary  lieutenan- 
cies, that  he  might  go  with  a  publick  character  to 
Byzantium,  and  king  Brogitarus,  to  gather  the 
money  which  they  owed  him  for  past  services. 
As  it  is  a  mere  money  matter,  says  Cicero,  1  shall 
not  concern  myself  about  it,  whether  I  gain  mv 
own  point  or  not,  though  Pompey  and  Crassus  have 
jointly  undertaken  it ;  but  he  seems  to  have  ob- 
tained what  he  desired,  since,  besides  the  intended 
inscriptions,  he  mentions  a  statue  also  of  his  bro- 
ther, which  he  had  actually  erected  at  the  temple 
of  Tellus.t 

*  Quod  Aedes  Telluris  est  curationis  meae.     De  Harusp.  resp.  14. 

f  Multa  noote  cum  Vibullio  veni  ad  Pompeium.  Cumqiie  ego  egis- 
sein  de  istis  operibns  et  inscriptionihiis,  per  niilii  bcni^iie  respondit. 
Cum  Crasso  se  dixit  loqui  velle.  niiliiquc,  lit  idem  tacereni,  suasit. 
Crassum  cousulem  ex  seiiatu  domuiri  reduxi :  suscepit  rem,  dixitqne  esse 
qtiod  Clodius  hoe  tempore  rnperet  per  se,  et  per  Pompeium  consequi. 


8S  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  ITtb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius.  Magnus  II.    M.  Licinitis  Crassus  II. 

Trebonius,  one  of  the  tribunes  in  the  interests  of 
the  trhimvirate,  published  a  law,  "  for  the  assign- 
"  ment  of  provinces  to  the  consuls  for  the  term  of 
"  five  years :  to  Pompey,  Spain  and  Africk ;  to 
"  Crassus,  Syria,  and  the  Parthian  war,  with  a  pow- 
"  er  of  raising  what  forces  they  thought  fit :  and 
*'  that  Caesar's  commission  should  be  renewed  also 
"  for  five  years  more."  The  law  was  opposed  by 
the  generality  of  the  senate  ;  and  above  all,  by  Ca- 
to,  Favonius,  and  two  of  the  tribvuies,  C.  Ateius 
Capito,  and  P.  Aquilius  Gallus:  but  the  superiour 
force  of  the  consuls  and  the  other  tribunes  prevail- 
ed, and  cleared  the  forum  by  violence  of  all  their 
opponents.  The  law  no  sooner  passed,  than  Cras- 
sus began  to  prepare  for  his  eastern  expedition ; 
and  was  in  such  haste  to  set  forward,  that  he  left 
Rome  above  two  months  before  the  expiration  of 
his  consulship  :  his  eagerness  to  involve  the  repub- 
lick  in  a  desperate  war,  for  which  the  Parthians  had 
given  no  pretext,  was  generally  detested  by  the 
city:  the  tribune  Ateius  declared  it  impious,  and 
prohibited  by  all  the  auspices ;  and  denounced  dire- 
ful imprecations  against  it ;  but  finding  Crassus  de- 
termined to^Tnarch  in  defiance  of  all  religion,  he 
waited  for  him  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  and,  having 
dressed  up  a  little  altar,  stood  ready  with  a  fire  and 
sacrifice  to  devote  him  to  destruction.*  Ateius 
was  afterwards  turned  out  of  the  senate  by  Appius, 
wlien  he  was  censor,  for  falsifying  the  auspices  on 
this  occasion  ;  but  the  miserable  fate  of  Crassus  sup- 


Putare  so,  si  es;o  cum  non  impedircm,  posse  me  adipisci  sine  conteu- 
lione  quod  vel!em,  etc.     Ad  Quint.  2.  9. 

Keddita  est  inihi  pervetus  opistola in  qua  de  Acdc  Telluris,  et 

de  porticii  Catuli  me  admones.     Fit  utrumque  diligeiiter.     Ad  Tel- 
luris etiam  tuam  statuam  locavi.     lb.  3.  1. 

'■*■■  Dio.  I,  :39.  p.  109.  Plut.  in  Crass. 


SECT.  VI.  CFCERO.  89 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.    M.  Licinius  Crassus.  II. 

ported  the  credit  of  them ;  and  confirmed  the  vul- 
gar  opinion  of  the  inevitable  force  of  those  ancient 
rites,  in  drawing  down  the  divine  vengeance  on  all 
who  presumed  to  contemn  them.*  Appius  was  one 
of  the  augurs  ;  and  the  only  one  of  the  college  who 
maintained  the  truth  of  their  auguries,  and  the  reali- 
ty of  divination  ;  for  which  he  w^as  laughed  at  by 
the  rest ;  who  charged  him  also  with  an  absurdity, 
in  the  reason,  which  he  subscribed,  for  his  censure 
upon  Ateius,  viz.  that  he  had  falsified  the  auspices, 
and  brought  a  great  calamity  on  the  Roman  peo- 
ple :  for  if  the  auspices,  they  said,  were  false,  they 
could  not  possibly  have  any  effect,  or  be  the  cause 
of  that  calamity.f  But  though  they  were  undoubt- 
edly forged,  it  is  certain,  however,  that  they  had  a 
real  influence  on  the  overthrow  of  Crassus :  for  the 
terrour  of  them  had  deeply  possessed  the  minds  of 
the  soldiers,  and  made  them  turn  every  thing  which 
they  saw,  or  heard,  to  an  omen  of  their  ruin  ;  so 
that  when  the  enemy  appeared  in  sight,  they  were 
struck  with  such  a  panick,  that  they  had  not  cour- 
age or  spirit  enough  left,  to  make  a  tolerable  resis- 
tance. 

Crassus  was  desirous,  before  he  left  Rome,  to  be 
reconciled  to  Cicero :  they  had  never  been  real 
friends,  but  generally  opposite  in  party  ;  and  Ci- 
cero's early  engagements  with  Pompey  kept  him,  of 


*  M.  Cra«so  quid  acciderit,  videmtis,  dirarmn  obnunciatioae  neglecta. 
DeDivin.  1.  16. 

\  Solus  eniin  miiltoiuin  amiorum  inemoria,  non  decantandi  Augurii, 
seel  divinandi,  teniiit  disciplinain  •  qiieiu  irridebant  collegaa  tiii  ;  eum- 
que  tuin  Pisidam,  tiiin  Soramim  au'^iirem  e>se  dieebant.  Qiiibus  nulla 
videbatur  in  auguriis  ant  aiispiciis  praesensio.     lb.  47. 

In  quo  Appius,  bonus  augur. — Von  satis  scienter — Civein  egregium, 
Ateimn,  censor  uotavit,  quod  erasntitum  auspiciasubscripserit.     Uuae 
si  falsa  fuisset  mil  lam  adferre  potuisset  causam  calamitati?.     lb.  ir». 
VOL.    II.  12 


90  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vf, 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.     M.  Licinius  Crassus  II. 

course,  at  a  distance  from  Crassus  :  their  coldness 
was  still  increased,  on  account  of  Catiline's  plot,  of 
which  Crassus  was  strongly  suspected,  and  charged 
Cicero  with  being  the  author  of  that  suspicion  : 
they  carried  it,  however,  on  both  sides  with  much 
decency,  out  of  regard  to  Crassus's  son,  Publius,  a 
professed  admirer  and  disciple  of  Cicero,  till  an  ac- 
cidental debate  in  the  senate  blew  up  their  secret 
grudge  into  an  open  quarrel.  1  he  debate  was  up- 
on Gabinius,  whom  Crassus  undertook  to  defend, 
with  many  severe  reflections  upon  Cicero,  who  re- 
plied, with  no  less  acrimony,  and  gave  a  free  vent 
to  that  old  resentment  of  Crassus's  many  injuries, 
which  had  been  gathering,  he  says,  several  years, 
but  lain  dormant  so  long,  that  he  took  it  to  be  ex- 
tinguished, till,  from  this  accident,  it  burst  out  into 
a  flame.  The  quarrel  gave  great  joy  to  the  chiefs 
of  tlie  senate,  who  highly  applauded  Cicero,  in 
hopes  to  embroil  him  with  the  triumvirate  :  but 
Pompey  laboured  hard  to  make  it  up,  and  Caesar 
also,  by  letter,  expressed  his  uneasiness  upon  it, 
and  begged  it  of  Cicero,  as  a  favour,  to  be  reconcil- 
ed with  Crassus ;  so  that  lie  could  not  hold  out 
against  an-kitercession  so  powerful,  and  so  well  en- 
forced by  his  aflection  to  young  Crassus :  their  re- 
conciliation was  confirmed  by  mutual  professions 
of  a  sincere  friendship  for  the  futiue ;  and  Crassus, 
to  give  a  publick  testimony  of  it  to  the  city,  in- 
vited himself,  just  before  his  departure,  to  sup  with 
Cicero,  who  entertained  him  in  the  gardens  of  his 
son-in-law,  Crassipes.'^'  ,  These  gardens  were  upon 

*  Repentinam  ejus  Gabiiiii  dcfcnsionem — Si  sine  iilla  mea  contunic- 
lia  suscepisset,  tulissera  :  sod  cum  nie  disputantein,  non  lacessentem 
laesisset,  exarsi  non  solum  praesenti,  credo,  iracnndia  (nam  ealam.ve- 
hemens  fortasse  non  fuisset)  sed  cum  incJusum  iliud  odium  multarum 
ejus  in  me  injuriarum,  quod  ego  efiudisse  me  omne  arbitrabar,  residuum 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  91 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.    51.  Licinius  Crassus.  II. 

the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  and  seem  to  have  been  fa- 
mous for  their  beauty  and  situation  ;*  and  are  the 
only  proof  which  we  meet  with  of  the  spieqdid  for- 
tunes and  condition  of  Crassipes. 

Cicero  spent  a  great  part  of  the  summer  in  the 
country,  in  study  and  retreat,  "  pleased,"  he  says, 
"  that  he  was  out  of  tlie  way  of  those  squabbles, 
"  where  he  must  either  have  defended  what  he  did 
'*  not  approve,  or  deserted  the  man  whom  he  ought 
"  not  to  forsake."t  In  this  retirement  he  put  the 
"last  hand  to  his  piece  on  the  Complete  Oiator, 
which  he  sent  to  Atticus,  and  promises  also  to  send 
to  Lentulus,  telling  him,  "  that  he  had  intermitted  his 
"  old  task  of  orations,  and  betaken  himself  to  the 
"  milder  and  gentler  studies,  in  which  he  had  fin- 
"  ished,  to  his  satisfaction,  three  books,  by  way  of 
"  dialogue,  on  the  subject  of  the  Orator,  in  Aris- 
"totle's  manner,  which  would  be  of  use  to  his 
"  son,  young  Lentulus,  being  drawn,  not  in  the 
"  ordinary  way  of  the  schools,  and  the  dry  meth- 
"  od  of  precepts,  but  comprehending  all  that  the 
"  ancients,  and  especially  Aristotle  and  Isocrates, 
"  had  taught  on  the  institution  of  an  Orator/'J 


taraen  insciente  rae  fuisset,  orane  repeute  apparuit — Curaqiie  Pora- 
peiiis  ita  contendisset,  iit  nihil  unquara  magis,  ut  cum  Ciasso  redirein 
in  gratiaii) ;  Caesarque  per  literas  maxima  se  molestia  ex  ilia  conten- 
tioue  aflectum  ostenderet :  habiii  non  temporum  solum  meorum  ra- 
tionem,  sod  etiam  naturae.  Crassuque  ut  quasi  testata  populo  Horn. 
esset  nostra  gratia,  paene  a  meis  laribus  in  provinciam  est  profectus. 
Nam  cum  milii  condixisset,  coonavit  apud  me  in  mei  generi  Crassipe- 
dis  hortis. — Ep.  Fam.  1.  9. 

*  Ad  Quint.  3.  7.     Ad  Att.  4.  12. 

t  Ego  afuisse  me  in  altercationibus,  quas  in  senatu  factas  audio 
fero  non  raoleste  ;  nam  aut  deicndisscra  quod  non  placeret,  aut  de- 
fuissem  cui  non  oporteret.     Ad  Att.  \.  13. 

\  Scripsi  etiam,  (nam  ab  orationibus  dijungo  me  fere  referoque  ad 
mansuetiores  musas)  scripsi  igitur  Aristoteleo  more,  queraadraodum 


92  THE   LIFE   OFs  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  698.    Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.    M.  Licinius  Crassus.  II. 

The  three  books  contain  as  many  dialogues, 
upon  the  character  and  idea  of  the  perfect  Orator : 
the  principal  speakers  were  P.  Crassus  and  M. 
Antonius,  persons  of  the  first  dignity  in  the  re- 
publick,  and  the  greatest  masters  of  eloquence, 
which  Rome  had  then  known :  they  were  near 
forty  years  older  than  Cicero,  and  the  first  Ro- 
mans who  could  pretend  to  dispute  the  prize  of 
oratory  with  the  Greeks,  and  who  carried  the 
Latin  tongue  to  a  degree  of  perfection,  which  left 
little  or  no  room  for  any  farther  improvement.* 
The  disputation  was  undertaken  at  the  desire, 
and  for  the  instruction  of  two  young  orators  of 
great  hopes,  C.  Cotta  and  P.  Sulpicius,  who  were 
then  beginning  to  flourish  at  the  bar :  Cicero  him- 
self was  not  present  at  it,  but  being  informed  by 
Cotta  of  the  principal  heads,  of  and  general  argu- 
ment of  the  whole,  supplied  the  rest  from  his 
own  invention,  agreeably  to  the  different  stile  and 
manner,  which  those  great  men  were  known  to 
pursue,  and  with  design  to  do  honour  to  the  me- 
mory of  them  both,  but  especially  of  Crassus,  who 
had  been  the  director  of  his  early  studies,  and  to 
whom  he  assigns  the  defence  of  that  notion  which 

quldem  volui,  tres  libros  in  dispntatione  et  dlalogo  de  Oratore,  quos 
arbitror  Lentulo  tuo  non  fore  iiiutiles.  Abhorrent  enim  a  commnni- 
bus  praeceptis :  ac  omnem  antiqiiornm,  et  Arifitoteleam  et  Isocra- 
team  rationern  Oraloriam  oo/nplectuntiir.     Ep.  Fam.  1.  9. 

*  Crassus — quatuor  et  triginta  turn  habebat  annos,  totidemqne  an- 
nis  mihi  aetate  praestabat— Triennio  ipso  minor  quam  Antonius, 
quod  idcirco  posjii,  ut  dicendi  Latine  prima  niaturitas  qua  aetate  ex- 
titisset,  posset  notari ;  et  intelligeretur.  jam  ad  summum  paene  esse 
perductam.  ut  eo  nihil  ferme  quisqnam  addere  posset,  nisi  qui  a  phi- 
losophia,  a  jurecivili,  ab  historia  luisset  instructior.     Brut.  275. 

Nunc  ad  Antonium,  Crassumque  pervenimus.  Nam  ego  sic  exis- 
timo  hos  Oralores  inisse  maximos :  ol  in  his  priraum  cum  Graecorum 
gloria  Latine  dicendi  copiam  aequatam — lb.  250. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  93 


A.  Urb.  698.     Cic.  52.    Coss.— Cn-  Pompeius  Magnus  II.     M.  Licinius  Crassns.  II. 


he  himself  always  entertained,  of  the  character  of 
a  consummate  speaker.^ 

Atticus  was  exceed inorly  pleased  with  this  trea- 
tise, and  commended  it  to  the  skies  ;  but  object- 
ed to  the  propriety  of  dismissin<>;  Scaevola  from 
the  disputation,  after  he  had  once  been  introduced 
into  the  first  dialoj^ue.     Cicero  defends  himself  by 
the  example  of  their  god,  Plato,  as  he  calls  him, 
in  his  book  on  Government ;  where  the  scene   be- 
in  o;  laid  in  the  house  of   an  old  gentleman,  Ce- 
phalus,  the  old  man,  after  bearing  a  part  in  the 
first  conversation,  excuses  himself,    that  he  must 
go  to  prayers,  and  returns  no  more  ;    Plato   not 
thinking  it  suitable  to  the  character  of  his  age,  to 
be  detained  in  the  company  through  so  long  a  dis- 
course :    that,  with   greater  reason,  therefore,   he 
had  used  the  same  caution  in  the  case  of  Scaevo- 
la ;  since  it  w^as  not  decent  to  suppose  a  person  of 
his  dignity,  extreme  age  and  infirm  health,  spending 
several  days  successively  in  another  man's  house  : 
that  the  first  day's  dialogue  related  to  his  particu- 
lar profession,  but  the   other  two  turned  chiefly 
on  the  rules  and  precepts  of  the  art,  w  here  it  was 
not  proper  for  one  of  Scaevola's  temper  and  char- 
acter to  assist  only  as  a  hearer.f     This  admirable 

*  Nos  enim,  qui  ipsi  sermoni  nou  interfulssemus,  et  qiiibus  C.  Cot- 
ta  tantmnmodo  locos,  ac  sententias  hujiis  dispiitationis  tradidisset, 
quo  in  genere  orationis  utrumque  Oratorem  cognoveramns,  id  ipsum 
sumusio  eorum  sermone  adumbiare  conati. — De  Orat.  3.  4. 

IJt  ei,  (Crasso)  ct  si  iiequaqiiam  parem  illius  ingonio,  at  pro  nostro 
tainen  studio  raeritam  gratiam  debilamquc  rcferamus — Ibid.— 

f  Quod  in  iis  libris,  quos  laudas,  personam  desideras  Soaevolae. 
Non  earn  temere  dimovi,  sed  feci  idem,  quod  in  ?roxilii<t  Deus  iile  nos- 
ter,  Plato.  Cum  in  Piraeeum  Socrntes  venisset  ad  Ccpbaluni,  locu- 
pletem  et  festivum  senem,  quoad  primus  iile  sermo  habeielur  adest 
in  disputando  Senex,  etc.     Ad  Alt.  4.  16. 


94  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  698.    Cic  52.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  II.    M.  Licinius  Crassus.  II. 

work  remains  entire,  a  standing  monument  of  Ci- 
cero's parts  and  abilities;  which,  while  it  exhib- 
its to  us  the  idea  of  a  perfect  orator,  and  marks 
out  the  way,  by  which  Cicero  formed  himself  to 
that  character,  it  explains  the  reason,  likewise,  why 
no  body  has  since  equalled  him,  or  ever  will,  till 
there  be  found  again  united,  what  will  hardly  be 
found  single  in  any  man,  the  same  industry,  and  the 
same  parts. 

Cicero  returned  to  Rome,  about  the  middle  of 
November,  to  assist  at  Milo's  wedding,  who  mar- 
ried Fausta,  a  rich  and  noble  lady,  the  daughter 
of  Sylla  the  dictator  f-  with  whom,  as  some  wri- 
ters says,  he  found  Sallust  the  historian  in  bed,  not 
long  after,  and  had  him  soundly  lashed,  before  he 
dismissed  him.  The  consuls,  Pompey  and  Cras- 
sus, having  reaped  all  the  fruit,  which  they  had 
proposed  from  the  consulship,  of  securing  to  them- 
selves the  provinces  which  they  wanted,  were  not 
much  concerned  about  the  choice  of  their  succes- 
sors ;  so  that,  after  postponing  the  election  to  the 
end  of  the  year,  they  gave  way,  at  last,  to  their 
enemy,  L.  Dbmitius  Ahenobarbus  ;  being  content 
to  have  joined  with  him  their  friend,  Appius  Clau- 
dius Pulcher. 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.—L.  Don^tius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

As  soon  as  the  new  year  came  on,  Crassus's  ene- 
mies began  to  attack  him  in  the  senate  :  their  de- 

*  Ad  Att.  4.  13.  5.  8. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  95 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

sign  was  to  revoke  his  commission,  or  abrido;e  it, 
at  least,  of  the  power  of  making  war  upon  the 
Parthians:  but  Cicero  exerted  himself  so  strenu- 
ously in  his  defence,  that  he  baffled  their  attempts, 
after  a  warm  contest  Avith  the  consuls  themselves' 
and  several  of  the  consular  senators.  He  o-ave 
Crassus  an  account  of  the  debate  by  letter,  in  which 
he  tells  him,  that  he  had  ^iven  proof,  not  only  to 
his  friends  and  family,  but  to  the  whole  city,  of 
the  sincerity  of  his  reconciliation ;  and  assures  him 
of  his  resolution  to  serve  him,  with  all  his  pains, 
advice,  authority,  interest,  in  every  thing  o^reat  or 
small,  which  concerned  himself,  his  friends,  or  cli- 
ents ;  and  bids  him  look  upon  that  letter,  as  a 
league  of  amity,  which  on  his  part  should  be  in- 
violably observed.* 

The  month  of  February  being  generally  em- 
ployed in  giving  audience  to  foreign  ^princes  and 
ambassadours,  Antiochus,  king  of  Comagene,  a  ter- 
ritory on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,!  preferred 
a  petition  to  the  senate  for  some  new  honour  or 
privilege,  which  was  commonly  decreed  to  princes 
in  alliance  with  the  republick  ;  but  Cicero,  being 
in  a  rallying  humour,  made  the  petition  so  ridicu- 
lous, that  the  house  rejected  it,  and  at  his  motion, 
reserved  likewise  out  of  his  jurisdiction  one  of  his 
principal  towns.  Zeugma ;  in  which  was  the  chief 
bridge  and  passage  over  the  Euphrates.  Caesar, 
in  his  consulship,  had  granted  to  this  king  the  ho- 
nour of  the  praetexta,  or  the  robe  of  the  Roman 

*  Has  literas  velim  existimes  foederis  habitnras  esse  vim,  noii  epis- 
tolae ;  meque  ea,  quae  tibi  promitlo  ac  recipio,  sanctissime  esse  ob- 
ser?aturiim.     Ep.  Fam.  5.  8. 

f  Ep.  Fam.  15.  1..3,  1. 


96  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vi, 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.  Coss.— L.  Doniitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcber. 

Mao;istrate^ ;  which  was  always  disaoreable  to  the 
nobility,  wlio  did  not  care  to  see  these  petty  prin- 
ces put  upon  the  same  rank  with  themselves ;  so 
that  Cicero,  callinsj  out  upon  the  nobles,  "  will 
"  you,"  says  he,  ''  who  refused  the  praetexta  to  the 
**  king  of  Bostra,  suffer  this  Comagenian  to  strut  in 
*•'  purple  !"  But  this  disappointment  was  not  more 
mortifying  to  the  king,  than  it  was  to  the  consuls, 
whose  best  perquisites  were  drawn  from  these  com- 
pliments, which  were  always  repaid  by  rich  pre- 
sents ;  so  that  Appius,  who  had  been  lately  reconcil- 
ed to  Cicero,  and  paid  a  particular  court  to  him  at 
this  time,  applied  to  him  by  Atticus  and  their  com- 
mon friends,  to  suffer  the  petitions  of  this  sort  to 
pass  quietly,  nor  destroy  the  usual  harvest  of  the 
month,  and  make  it  quite  barren  to  him."^ 

Cicero  made  an  excursion  this  spring  to  visit  his 
several  seats  and  estates  in  the  country ;  and,  in  his 
Cumean  villa,  began  "a  treatise  on  politicks;  or 
*•  on  the  best  state  of  a  city,  and  the  duties  of  a  citi- 
"  zen  :"  he  calls  it  a  great  and  laborious  work,  yet 
worthy  of  jiis  pains,  if  he  could  succeed  in  it ;  if 
not,  I  shalfTlirow  it,  says  he,  into  that  sea,  which 
is  now  before  me,  and  attempt  something  else, 
since  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  be  idle.  It  was 
drawn  up  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  in  which  the 


*  De  CoiTiageno  rege,  quod  rem  totani  discusserara,  mihi  et  per  se 
et  per  Pomponiiim  blauditur  Appius.  Videt  enim,  si  hoc  genere  di- 
eendi  utar  i«  caeteris,  Februarium  sterilein  futurum.  Eumque  lusi 
jocose  satis:  neque  solum  illiid  extorsi  oppidulum,  quod  erat  positum 
in  Euplirate,  Zeugma  ;  sed  praeterea  togam  ejus  praetextam,  quain 
«rat  adeptus  Caesare  consule,  magno  hominum  risu  cavillatus. — Vos 
autem  homines  nobiles,  qui  Bostrenura  praetextatum  non  ferebatis, 
Comagenum  feretis  ?  Multa  dixi  in  ignobilem  regem,  quibus  totus  est 
explosus.  Quo  genere  commotus  Appius  lotura  me  amplexatur.  Ad 
Quint.  2.  12. 


SECT.  vi.  CICERO.  9r 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  AhenolKirbus.     A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

greatest  persons  of  the  old  republick  were  intro- 
duced, debating  on  the  origin  and  best  constitution 
of  government ;  Scipio,  Laelius,  Philius,  INIaniiius, 
&;c.*  The  whole  was  to  be  distributed  into  nine 
books,  each  of  them  the  subject  of  one  day's  dis- 
putation :  when  he  had  finished  the  two  first,  they 
were  read  in  his  Tusculan  villa  to  some  of  his 
friends ;  where  Sallust,  who  was  one  of  the  company, 
advised  him  to  change  his  plan,  and  treat  the  subject 
in  his  own  person,  as  Aristotle  had  done  before  him ; 
alleging,  that  the  introduction  of  those  ancients, 
instead  of  adding  gravit}^  gave  an  air  of  romance 
to  the  argument,  which  would  have  the  greater 
weight,  when  delivered  from  himself ;  as  being  the 
work,  not  of  a  little  sophist^r  contemplative  theo- 
rist, but  of  a  consular  sen^r  and  statesman,  con- 
versant in  the  greatest  affairs,  and  writing  what  his 
own  practice,  and  the  experience  of  many  years, 
had  taught  him  to  be  true.  These  reasons  seemed 
very  plausible,  and  made  him  think  of  altering  his 
scheme ;  especially,  since,  by  throwing  the  scene 
so  far  back,  he  precluded  himself  from  touching 
on  those  important  revolutions  of  the  republick, 
which  were  later  than  the  period  to  which  he  con- 
fined himself :  but,  after  some  deliberation,  being 
unwilling  to  throw  away  the  ttvo  books  already  finish- 
ed, with  which  he  was  much  j)leased,  he  resolved 
to  stick  to  the  old  plan,  and  as  he  had  preferred  it 


*  Scribebaru  ilia,  quae  dixeram  TroxilmA,  spissum  sane  opus  et  ope- 
losum  :  sed  si  ex  sententia  successerit,  bene  erit  opera  posita;  sin 
minus,  in  iliud  ipsum  mare  dejiciemus,  quod  scribentes  spectamus; 
aggrediemur  alia,  quoniam  quiescere  non  possemus.     lb.  11. 

Hauc  ego,  quam  institui,  de  Uepub.  disputationem  iu  Afrirani  per- 
sonam ctPhili,  et  Laelii  ct  Manilii  contnli,  etc. — Hein,  quod  te  non 
lugit,  magnam  complexus  sum  et  gravem,  et  plurimi  otii,  quod  ego 
jrnaxime  egeo.     Ad  Alt.  4.  10. 

VOL.    II.  1  3 


98  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  yu 

A.  Urb   699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.  Claudius  Pukher. 

from  the  first,  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  offence,  so 
he  pursued  it  without  any  other  alteration,  than 
that  of  reducing;  the  number  of  books  from  nine 
to  six;  in  which  form  they  were  afterwards  pub- 
lished, and  survived  him  for  several  ages,  though 
DOW  unfortunately  lost.* 

From  the  fragments  of  this  work,  which  still  re- 
main, it  appears  to  have  been  a  noble  performance, 
and  one  of  his  capital  pieces  ;  where  all  the  impor- 
tant questions  in  politicks  and  morality  were  dis- 
cussed with  the  greatest  elegance  and  accuracy; 
*^  of  the  origin  of  society ;  the  nature  of  law  and 
"  obligation  ;  the  eternal  difference  of  right  and 
"  wrong ;  of  justice  being  the  only  good  policy, 
"  or  foundation  either  S[  publick  or  private  pros- 
"  perity  :  so  that  he  calls  his  six  books,  so  many 
"  pledges,  given  to  the  publick,  for  the  integrity  of 
"his  conduct."!  The  younger  Scipio  was  the 
principal  speaker  of  the  dialogue,  whose  part  it 
was,  "to  assert  the  excellence  of  Ihe  Roman  con- 


*  Sermo  autem  in  novem  et  dies  et  libros  distribntus  de  optirao  statu 
civitatis  et  de-wptimo  cive.— Hi  iibri,  cum  in  Tusciilano  mihi  legeren- 
tur,  audiente  Sallustio;  admonitus  sum  ab  illo,  multo  majore  auctori- 
tate  illis  de  rebus  dici  posse,  si  ipse  loqiierer  de  Repub.  praesertim 
cum  esseni,  non  Heraclides  Ponticus,  sed  consnlaris,  et  is,  qui  in  maxi- 
mis  versatus  in  Repub.  rebus  essem  :  quae  tarn  antiquis  hominibus  at- 
tribuerem,  ea  visum  iri,  firta  esse. — Commovit  me,  et  f^o  inagis,  quod 
maximos  motus  nostrae  civitatisiattingere  non  potoram,  quovderant  infe- 
rlores,  quam  illorura  aetas  qui  loquebanlur.  Ego  autem  id  ipsum  turn 
eram  secutus,  ne  in  nostra  tempora  incurrens  oflfenderem  quempiam. 
Ad  Quint.  3.  5. 

This  will  solve  that  variation,  which  we  find  in  his  own  account  of 
this  work,  in  different  parts  of  his  writings;  and  why  Fannius,  who 
in  some  places  is  declared  to  be  a  speaker  In  it,  [Ad  Att.  4.  16.  Ad 
Quint.  3.  !).]  is  denied  to  be  so  in  others;  being  dropped  when  the 
number  of  books  was  contracted. 

t  Cum.  sex  libris,  tanquam  praedibus  rae  ipsum  obslrinxerim,  quos 
tibi  tara  valde  probari  gaudeo.     Ad  Att.  6.  1 . 


SE€T.  VI.  CICERO.  99 


A.  Urb.  699>    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


"  stitution,  preferably  to  that  of  all  other  states  :"* 
who,  in  the  sixth  book,  under  the  fiction  of  a 
dream,  which  is  still  preserved  to  us,  takes  occasion 
to  inculcate  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  and  a  future  state,  in  a  manner  so  lively  and 
entertaining,  that  it  has  been  the  standing  pattern, 
ever  since,  to  the  wits  of  succeeding  ages,  for  at- 
tempting the  same  method  of  instilling  moral  les- 
sons, in  the  form  of  dreams  or  visions. 

He  was  now  drawn  at  last  into  a  particular  inti- 
macy and  correspondence  of  letters  with  Caesar ; 
who  had  long  been  endeavouring  to  engage  him  to 
his  friendship,  and  with  that  view,  had  invited  his 
brother  Quintus,  to  be  one  of  his  Lieutenants  in 
Gaul ;  where  (iuintus,  to  pay  his  court  the  better 
to  his  General,  joined  heartily  in  pressing  his  bro- 
ther to  an  union  w^ith  him,  instead  of  adhering  so 
obstinately  to  Pompey,  who,  as  he  tells  him,  was 
neither  so  sincere,  nor  so  generous  a  friend  as  Cae- 
sar, f  Cicero  did  not  dislike  the  advice,  and  ex- 
pressed a  readiness  to  comply  with  it,  of  which 
Balbus  gave  an  intimation  to  Caesar,  with  a  letter, 
also  inclosed,  from  Cicero  himself;  but  the  packet 
happening  to  fall  into  water,  the  letters  were  all 
destroyed,  except  a  scrap  or  two  of  Balbus's,  to 
which  Caesar  returned  answer ;  "  I  perceive,  that 
"  you  had  written  some\vhat  about  Cicero,  which  I 
"  could  not  make  out ;  but,  as  far  as  I  can  guess, 
"  it  was  something  rather  to  be  wished,  than  hoped 

*  An  senses,  cum  in  illis  de  Repub.  libris  persnadere  videatur  Afri- 
canus,  omnium  Keriim  pub.  nostram  veterem  illam  luisse  optimam. — 
De  Leg.  2.  x.  vid.  ib.  6.  9. 

t  De  Pompeio  asscntior  tibi,  vel  tu  potius  mihi,  nam,  ut  sets,  Jam- 
pridem  istura  canto  Caesarem. — Ad  Quint.  2.  13. 


100  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vi^ 

A.  Orb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Cosj.— L.  Domithis  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


"  for."=^  But  Cicero  sent  another  copy  of  the  same 
letter,  which  came  safe  to  his  hands,  written,  as  he 
says,  in  the  familiar  style,  yet  without  departing 
from  his  dignity.  Caesar  answered  him  with  all 
imacriiiaole  kindness,  and  the  offer  of  every  thing, 
in  which  his  power  could  serve  him,  telling  him, 
how  a$;reeable  his  brother's  company  was  to  him, 
by  the  revival  of  their  old  affection ;  and  since  he 
was  now  removed  to  such  a  distance  from  him,  he 
would  take  care,  that  in  their  mutual  want  of  each 
other,  he  should  have  cause  at  least  to  rejoice,  that 
his  brother  was  with  him,  rather  than  any  one  else. 
He  thanks  him  also  for  sending  the  law^yer  Treba- 
tius  to  him,  and  says  upon  it,  jocosely,  that  there 
was  not  a  man  before  in  his  army,  who  knew  how 
to  draw  a  recognizance. — Cicero,  in  his  account  of 
this  letter  to  his  brother,  says  ;  "  it  is  kind  in  you, 
"  and  like  a  brother,  to  press  me  to  this  friendship, 
"  though  I  am  running  that  way  apace  myself,  and 
*'  shall  do,  what  often  happens  to  travellers,  who 
"  rising  later  than  they  intended,  yet,  by  quicken- 
"  ing  their  speed,  come  sooner  to  their  journey's 
"  end  than  if  they  had  set  o.ut  earlier ;  so  I,  who 
"  have  oviET-slept  myself  in  my  observance  of  this 
"  man,  though  you  were  frequently  rousing  me, 
"  will  correct  my  past  laziness  by  mending  my 
"  pace  for  the  future." — But  as  to  his  seeking  any 
advantage  or  personal  benefit  from  this  alliance, 
"  believe  me,"  says  he,  "  you  who  know  me  ;  I 

*  Ille  scripsit  ad  Balbiim,  rasoiculum  ilium  epistolariim,  in  quo  fue- 
rat  et  mea  et  Balbi,  totum  sibi' aqua  madidum  redditum  esse  :  ut  no 
illud  quidejn  sciat,  meam  iuisse  aliquam  epistolain.  Sed  ex  J3albi 
epistola  panca  verba  intellexerat,  ad  quae  rescripsit  his  verbis.  De 
Cicerone  video  le  quiddani  scripsisse,  quod  ego  non  intellexi :  quan- 
tum autem  eonjeetura  consequebar  id  erat  hujusmodi,  iit  magis  opt-an- 
dum,  quam  sperandum  pulareiD.     Ad  Quint.  2.  12. 


SECT    VI. 


CICERO.  101 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Doraitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcber. 

"  have  from  him  abeady  what  I  most  value,  the 
"  assurance  of  liis  affection,  which  I  prefer  to  all 
*'  the  o;reat  things  that  he  offers  me.^ — In  another 
"  letter"  he  says ;  "  I  lay  no  great  stress  on  his 
"  promises,  want  no  farther  honours,  nor  desire 
"  any  new  glory,  and  wish  nothing  more  but  the 
"  continuance  of  his  esteem,  yet  live  still  in  such  a 
"  course  of  ambition  and  fatigue,  as  if  I  were  ex- 
"  pecting  what  I  do  not  really  desire."t 

But  thouo^h  he  made  no  use  of  Caesar's  genero- 
sity for  himself,  yet  he  used  it  freely  for  his  friends  : 
for  besides  his  brother,  who  was  Caesar's  lieute- 
nant, and  Trebatius,  who  was  his  lawyer ;  he  pro- 
cured an  eminent  post  for  Orfius,  and  a  regiment 
for  Curtius  ;  yet  Caesar  was  chiding  him  all  the 
while  for  his  reservedness  in  asking.f  His  recom* 
mendatory   letter   of   Trebatius,   will   shew   both 

*  Cum  Caesaris  Uteris,  refertis  omni  officio,  diligentia.  siiavitate — 
duarum  rnitiura  est,  qiiani  suavis  ei  tuns  adventiis  fuerit,  et  recorda- 
tio  veteris  amoris ;  deinde  se  effecturum,  nt  ego  in  inedio  dolore  ac 
desiderio  tui,  te,  cum  a  me  abesses,  potissimiim  secnm  esse  laetarer, 
— Trebatium  quod  ad  se  miserira,  persalse  et  humaniter  etiam  gratias 
mihi  agit :  negat  enim  in  taiita  multitudine  eorum,  qui  una  essent, 
quempiam  fuisse,  qui  vadimonium  concipere  posset. 

Quare  facis  tu  quidem  fraterno,  quod  me  hortaris,  sed  mehercule 
currentem  nunc  quidem,  ut  omnia  raea  studia  in  istum  unum  confc- 
ram,  etc. 

Sed  mihi  crede,  quern  nosti,  quod  in  istis  rebus  ego  plurimi  aesti- 
mo,  jam  liabeo  : — deinde  Caesaris  tantum  in  me  amorem,  quem  omni- 
bus his  hoDoribus,  quos  me  a  se  expectare  vult,  autepono. — Ad  Quint. 

2.  15. 

f  Promissis  lis,  quae  ostendit,  non  valde  pendeo  :  nee  honores  sitio, 
nee  desidero  gloriam  :  magisque  ejus  voluntatis  perpetuitatem,  quam 
promissorum  exitura  expecto.  Vivo  tameii  in  ea  ambitione  et  labore, 
tauquam  id,  quod  non  postulo,  expectem.     lb.  3.  5. 

I  M.  Curtio  Tribunatum  ab  eo  petivi.— lb.  2.  15.     Ep.  Fam.  7.  5. 
De  Tribunatu — mihi  ipse  Caesar  nominatim  Curtio  paratum  esse 
rescripsit,  meamquo  in  rogando  verecundiam  objurgavit.    Ad  Uuint. 

3.  1. 


102  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


what  a  share  he  possessed  at  this  time  of  Caesar's 
confidence,  and  with  what  an  affectionate  zeal  he 
used  to  recommend  his  friends. 


"  Cicero  to  Caesar,  Emperour. 

"  See,  how  I  have  persuaded  myself  to  consi- 
"  der  you  as  a  second  self;  not  only  in  what  affects 
*'  my  own  interest,  but  in  what  concerns  my 
"friends:  I  had  resolved,  whithersoever  I  went 
"  abroad,  to  carry  C.  Trebatius  alon^  with  me  ; 
"  that  I  might  bring  him  home  adorned  with  the 
"  fruits  of  my  care  and  kindness  :  but  since  Pom- 
"  pey's  stay  in  Rome  has  been  longer  than  I  ex- 
"pected,  and  my  own  irresolution,  to  which  you 
"  are  no  stranger,  will  either  wholly  hinder,  or  at 
"  least,  retard  my  going  abroad  at  all ;  see,  what 
"I  have  taken  upon  myself:  I  began  presently  to 
"  resolve  that  Trebatius  should  expect  the  same 
"  things  from  you,  which  he  had  been  hoping  for 
"  from  me  :  nor  did  I  assure  him  with  less  frank- 
"  ness  of  your  good  will,  than  I  used  to  do  of  my 
"own:  but-sw wonderful  incident  fell  out,  both  as 
"  a  testimony  of  my  opinion,  and  a  pledge  of  your 
"  humanity  ;  for  while  I  was  talking  of  this  very 
"  Trebatius,  at  my  house,  with  our  friend  Balbus, 
"  your  letter  was  delivered  to  me ;  in  the  end  of 
"  which  you  said  ;  "  as  to  M.  Orfius,  whom  you 
"  recommended  to  me,  1  will  make  him  even  king 
"  of  Gaul,  or  lieutenant,  to  Lepta ;  send  me  an- 
"  other,  therefore,  if  yoii  please,  whom  I  may  pre- 
"  fer.  We  lifted  up  our  hands,  both  I  and  Bal- 
"  bus ;  the  occasion  was  so  pat,  that  it  seemed  not 
"  to  be  accidental,  but  divine.     I  send  you  there- 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  103 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— D.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


"  fore  Trebatius ;  and  send  him  so,  as  at  first  in- 
"  deed  I  designed,  of  my  own  accord,  but  now 
"  also  by  your  invitation  :  embrace  him,  my  dear 
"  Caesar,  with  all  your  usual  courtesy ;  and  what- 
"  ever  you  could  be  induced  to  do  for  my  friends, 
**  out  of  your  regard  to  me,  confer  it  all  singly  upon 
"  him.  I  will  be  answerable  for  the  man  ;  not 
"  in  my  former  stile,  which  you  justly  rallied, 
"  when  I  wrote  to  you  about  Milo,  but  in  the 
"  true  Roman  phrase,  w^hich  men  of  sense  use  ; 
"  that  there  is  not  an  honester,  worthier,  modester 
"  man  living :  I  must  add,  what  makes  the  prin- 
"  cipal  part  of  liis  character,  that  he  has  a  sin- 
"  gular  memory  and  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
"civil  law.  I  ask  for  him,  neither  a  regiment, 
"  nor  government,  nor  any  certain  piece  of  prefer- 
"ment;  I  ask  your  benevolence  and  generosity; 
"  yet  am  not  against  the  adorning  him,  whenever 
"  you  shall  think  proper,  with  those  trappings  also 
"  of  glory :  in  short,  I  deliver  the  whole  man  to 
"  you,  from  my  hand,  as  we  say,  into  yours, 
"  illustrious  for  victory  and  faith.  But  I  am 
"more  importunate  than  I  need  be  to  you;  yet 
"  I  know  you  will  excuse  it.  Take  care  of  your 
"  health,  and  continue  to  love  me,  as  you  now 
''  do."* 

Trebatius  was  of  a  lazy,  indolent,  studious  tem- 
per; a  lover  of  books  and  good  company;  ea- 
gerly fond  of  the  pleasures  of  Rome  :  and  whol- 
ly out  of  his  element  in  a  camp :  and  because 
Caesar,  through  the  infinite  hurry  of  his  affairs, 
could  not  presently  admit  him  to  his  familiarity,  and 

*  Ep.  Fam.  7.  r». 


104  THE   LIFE   OF  aECT.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

prefer  him  so  soon  as  he  expected,  he  \^as  tired  of 
the  drudgery  of  attending  him,  and  impatient  to 
be  at  home  again.  Under  these  circumstances 
there  is  a  series  of  letters  to  him  from  Cicero  writ- 
ten not  only  with  the  disinterested  affection  of  a 
friend,  but  the  solicitude  even  of  a  parent,  employ- 
ing all  the  arts  of  insinuation,  as  well  of  the  grave, 
as  of  the  facetious  kind,  to  hinder  him  from  ruining 
his  hopes  and  fortunes  by  his  own  imprucience.  "  He 
"  laughs  at  his  childish  hankering  after  the  city ; 
"  bids  him  reflect  on  the  end  for  which  he  went 
"  abroad,  and  pursue  it  with  constancy ;  observes, 
"from  the  Medea  of  -Euripides,  that  many  had 
"  served  themselves  and  the  publick  w^ell,  at  a 
"  distance  from  their  country  ;  whilst  others,  by 
"  spending  their  lives  at  home,  had  lived  and  died 
"  ingloriously ;  of  which  number,  says  he,  you 
"  would  have  been  one,  if  we  had  not  thrust  you 
"out;  and  since  I  am  now  acting  Medea,  take 
"  this'  other  lesson  from  me,  that  he,  who  is  not 
"  wise  for  himself,  is  wise  to  no  purpose."^  He 
rallies  his  impatience,  or  rather  "  imprudence  ; 
"  as  if  he  had  carried  a  bond,  .not  a  letter  to  Cae- 
"  sar,  and  \Tiought  that  he  had  nothing  to  do,  but 
"  to  take  his  money  and  return  home  ;  not  recol- 
"lecting,  that  even  those  who  follow^ed  king 
"  Ptolemy  with  bonds  to  iVlexandria,  had  not  yet 

*  Tu  raodo  ineptias  istas  et  desideria  urbis  et  urbanitatis  depone  ; 
et  quo  censilio  profectus  es,  id  assiduitate  et  virtute  cousequere. — 

Nam  iniiiti  suam  rem  bene  gessere  et  publicam,  patria  procul. 
Multi,  qui  domi  aetatem  agerent,  propterea  sunt  improbati. 

Quo  in  uumero  tu  certe  fuisses,  nisi  te  extrusisseinus— et  quando 
Medeam  agere  coepi,  illud  semper  memento,  qui  ipse  sibi  sapiens 
prodcsse  non  quit,  nequicquam  sapit.     Ep.  Fam.  7.  6, 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  105 

A.  Urbu  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pnlcher. 

"  brought  back  a  penny  of  money .'^  You  write 
"  me  word,  says  he,  that  Caesar  now  consults  you  ; 
"  I  had  rather  hear,  that  he  consults  your  fnter- 
"est.f  Let  me  die,  if  I  do  not  believe,  such  is 
"  your  vanity,  that  you  had  rather  be  consulted, 
"  than  enriched  by  him."J  By  these  railleries  and 
perpetual  admonitions,  he  made  Trebatius  asham- 
ed of  his  softness,  and  content  to  stay  with  Cae- 
sar, by  whose  favour  and  generosity  he  was  cured 
at  last  of  all  his  uneasiness :  and  having  here  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  fortunes,  flourished  after- 
wards in  the  court  of  Augustus,  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  most  learned  lawyer  of  that  ao^e.^ 

Caesar  was  now  upon  his  second  expedition  into 
Britain,  which  raised  much  talk  and  expectation 
at  Rome,  and  gave  Cicero  no  small  concern  for 
the  safety  of  his  brother,  who,  as  one  of  Caesar's 
lieutenants,  was  to  bear  a  considerable  part  in  it.|| 
But  the  accounts  which  he  received  from  the  place, 
soon  eased  him  of  his  apprehensions,  by  inform- 
ing him,  that  there  was  nothing  either  to  fear  or  to 
hope  from  the  attempt ;  no  danger  from  the  people, 

*  Subimpudens  videbare ;  tanquam  enim  syngrapham  ad  impe- 
latorem,  non  epistolam  attiilisses,  sic,  peciinia  ablata.  domum  redi- 
re  properabas.  Nee  tibi  in  mentem  veniebat,  eos  ipsos.  qui  cum 
syngraphis  venisseut  Alexandriam,  Dummuin  adhue  nullum  auferre  po- 
tuisse.     lb.  17. 

f  Consuli  quidem  te  a.  Gaesare  scribis  ;  sed  ego  tibi  ab  illo  consult 
vellem. lb.  11. 

I  Moriar,  ni,  quae  tua  gloria  est,  puto  te  malle  a  Caesare  consuli, 
quam  inaurari.     lb.  13. 

^  — Nisi  quid  tu,  docte  Trebati, 
Dissentis. Hor.  Sat.  2.  1.  79. 

II  ExQuinti  Tratris  Uteris  suspicor  jam  eum  esse  io  BritaDoia:  sug* 
penso  animo  expecto  quid  agat--Ad  Att.  4.  1^. 

YOL.    IT.  14 


106  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.    vi. 

A.  Urb.  699.     Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


no  spoils  from  the  country.*  In  a  letter  from  At- 
ticus,  "  we  are  in  suspense,"  says  he,  "  about  the 
"  British  war ;  it  is  certain,  that  the  access  of  the 
"  island  is  strongly  fortified  ;  and  it  is  known  also 
"  already,  that  there  is  not  a  grain  of  silver  in  it, 
''  nor  any  thing  else  but  slaves ;  of  whom  you 
"  will  scarce  expect  any,  I  dare  say,  skilled  in 
"musick  or  letters."!  In  another  to  Trebatius; 
"  I  hear  that  there  is  not  either  any  gold  or  silver 
"  in  the  island  ;  if  so,  you  have  nothing  to  do  but 
*'  to  take  one  of  their  chariots,  and  fly  back  to 
"  us."t 

From  their  railleries  of  this  kind  on  the  barbarity 
and  misery  of  our  island,  one  cannot  help  reflecting 
on  the  surprising  fate  and  revolutions  of  kingdoms: 
how  Rome,  once  the  mistress  of  the  world,  the 
seat  of  arts,  empire  and  glory,  now  lies  sunk  in 
sloth,  ignorance,  and  poverty  ;  enslaved  to  the  most 
cruel,  as  well  as  to  the  most  contemptible  of  ty- 
rants, superstition  and  religious  imposture  ;  while 
this  remote  country,  anciently  the  jest  and  con- 
tempt of  the  polite  Romans,  is  become  the  happy 
seat  of  lii^erty,   plenty,  and  letters ;  flourishing  in 

*Ojiicnndas  mihi  tuas  de  Britannia  literas  !  Timebam  Oceanuin, 
timeham  littus  insulae.  lieliqua  non  equidem  conteinno.  Ad  Quint. 
2.  16. 

De  Britannicis  rebus  cognovi  ex  tuis  Uteris,  nihil  esse  nee  quod 
naetuainus,  nee  quod  gaudeaiiuis.     Uj.  3.  1.*  • 

f  Brifannici  belli  exitus  expectatur.  Constat  eniin  aditus  insulae 
munitos  esse  niirificis  luolihus.  Etiani  illud  jam  cognitum  est,  ncque 
argenti  scrupulum  esse  ullum  in  ilia  in?ula,  neque  ullam  spein  prae- 
dae.  nisi  ex  mancipiis ;  ex  qnibus  nuUos  puto  te  literis,  aut  musicis 
eruditos  expectare.     Ad  Att.  4.  16. 

t  In  Britannia  nihil  esse  audio  neque  auri  neque  argenti.  Id  si  ita 
est,  essedum  aliquod  suadeo  capias,  et  ad  nos  quam  primura  recurras 
Ep.  Fam.  7.  7. 


SECT.   VI.  CICERO.  107 

A.  Urb.  699.     Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Fulcher. 

all  the  arts  and  refinements  of  civil  life  ;  yet  nin- 
nino'  perhaps  the  same  course  which  Rome  itself 
had  run  before  it ;  from  virtuous  industry  to  wealth; 
from  wealth  to  luxury ;  from  luxury  to  an  impa- 
tience of  discipline  and  corruption  of  morals  ;  till, 
by  a  total  degeneracy  and  loss  of  virtue,  being 
grown  ripe  for  destruction,  it  falls  at  last  a  prey 
to  some  hardy  oppressor,  and  with  the  loss  of  liber- 
ty, losing  every  thing  else  that  is  valuable,  sinks 
gradually  again  into  its  original  barbarism. 

Cicero,  taking  it  for  granted  that  Trebatius  fol- 
lowed Caesar  into  Britain,  begins  to  joke  with  him 
upon  the  wonderful  figure  that  a  British  lawyer 
would  make  at  Rome  ;  and,  as  it  was  his  profession 
to  guard  other  people's  safety,  bids  him  beware  that 
he  himself  was  not  caught  by  the  British  chari- 
oteers.^ But  Trebatius,  it  seems,  knew  how  to 
take  care  of  himself  without  Cicero's  advice  ;  and 
when  Caesar  passed  over  to  Britain,  chose  to  stay 
behind  in  Gaul :  this  gave  a  fresh  handle  for  rail- 
lery ;  and  Cicero  congratulates  him  "  upon  being 
"  arrived  at  last  into  a  country  where  he  was 
"  thought  to  know  something ;  that  if  he  had  gone 
"  over  also  to  Britain,  there  w^ould  not  have  been 
*'  a  man  in  all  that  great  island  wiser  than  himself." 
— He  observes,  "  that  he  was  much  more  cautious 
"  in  military,  than  in  civil  contests  ;  and  wonders, 
"  that,  being  such  a  lover  of  swimming,  he 
"  could  not  be  persuaded  to  swim  in  the  ocean ; 
"  and,  when   he    could   not    be   kept   away  from 


*  Mira  enim  persona   indiici  potest  Britamiici  Juris  consulti.     Ep, 
Fam.  7.  11. 

Til,  qui  caeteris  cavere  didicisti,  in  rJiilannia  ne  ab  essodariis  deei 
piaris  caveto.     lb.  C. 


08  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  6Q9.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


"  every  shew  of  gladiators  at  Kome,  had  no 
"  curiosity  to  see  the  British  charioteers ;  he  re- 
"  joices,  however,  after  all,  that  he  did  not  2;o ; 
"  since  they  should  not  now  be  troubled  with  the 
"  impertinence  of  his  British  stories."^^ 

Quint  us  Cicero,  who  had  a  s^enius  for  poetry, 
was  projectinoj  the  plan  of  a  poem,  upon  their 
British  expedition,  and  beg2;ed  his  brother's  assist- 
ance in  it :  Cicero  approved  the  design,  and  ob- 
served upon  it,  "  that  the  nature  and  situation  of 
"  places  so  strange,  the  manners  of  the  people, 
"  their  battles  with  them,  and  the  general  himself, 
*'  Caesar,  were  excellent  subjects  for  poetry  ;  but 
"  as  to  his  assistance,  it  was  sending  owls  to  Athens  : 
"  that  Quintus,  who  had  finished  four  tragedies  in 
"  sixteen  days,  could  not  want  either  help  or  fame 
"  in  that  way,  after  his  Electra  and  the  Troades."t 

*  Esf ,  quod  gaudeas,  tein  ista  loca  venisse,  ubi  aliqiiid  sapere  vide- 
rere  :  quod  si  in  Britanniara  quoque  protiectus  esses,  profecro  nemo 
in  ilia  tanta  insula  te  peritior  fuisset — Sed  tu  in  re  railitari  raulto  es 
cautior  quara  in  advocationibus  :  qui  neque  in  oreano  naiare  voluisti, 
homo  shidiosissimns  naiandi,  neque  spertare  essedarios,  quera  antea  ne 
Andabatain  qqjjjem  defraudare  poteramus.     lb.  x. 

In  Brilanniura  te  profectum  non  esse  gaudeo,  quod  et  labore  earuisti, 
et  eeo  te  de  illis  rebus  non  audiam.     lb.  17. 

The  little  hint,  here  given,  of  Trebatius's  love  of  swimming,  adds  a 
new  light  and  beauty  to  that  passage  of  Horace,  where  the  poet  in- 
troduces him.  advising,  to  swim  thrice,  across  the  Tiber,  to  cure  the 
want  of  sleep;  the  advice,  it  seems,  being  peculiarly  agreeable  to  his 
own  practice  and  character. 


ter  uncti 


Trans7ianto  Tibcrim,  somno  quibus  est  opus  alto. 
,  Sat.  2.1.  V.  8. 

t  Tevero  t/Vo9sT/v  scribendi  egregiam  habere  video.  Quos  tu  situs, 
quas  naturas  rerum  et  locorum,  quos  mores,  quas  gentes,  qiias  pugnas, 
qiiem  vero  ipsum  imperatorem  hal)es  ?  Ego  te  libenter,  ut  rogas  qui- 
bus rebus  vis,  adjuvabo,  et  tibi  versus,  quos  rogas,  yxxuKo.'  eif  Aflxvctc  rait- 
tam.     Ad  Quint.  2.  16. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  109 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.  A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

In  other  It^ters,  he  answers  more  seriously,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  conceive  how  much  he  wanted 
leisure  for  versifying ;  that  to  write  verses  required 
an  ease  and  cheerfulness  of  mind,  whicli  the  times 
had  taken  from  him ;  and  that  his  poetical  liame 
was  quite  extin<>;uished  by  the  sad  prospect  of 
things  before  them.^ 

He  had  sent  Caesar  his  Greek  poem  in  three 
books,  on  the  history  of  his  consulship ;  and  Caesar's 
judgment  upon  it  was,  that  the  beginning  of  it  was 
as  good  as  any  thing  which  he  had  ever  seen  in  that 
language,  but  that  the  following  lines,  to  a  certain 
place,  were  not  equal  in  accuracy  and  spirit.  Ci- 
cero desires  therefore  to  know  of  his  brother,  what 
Caesar  really  thought  of  the  whole;  whether  tlie 
matter  or  the  stile  displeased  him ;  and  begs  that 
he  would  tell  him  the  truth  freely  ;  "  since  whether 
"  Caesar  liked  it  or  not,  he  should  ni4,"  he  says, 
"  be  a  jot  the  less  pleased  with  himself."t     He  be- 


Quatuor  tra^oedias,  cum  xvi.  diebus  absolvisse  scribas,  tu  quldqiiara 
ab  alio  inutuaris?  et  KXiog  qiiaeris,  cum  Electram  et  Troadem  scrip- 
sens  ?  lb.  3.  6. 

N.  B.  These  four  tragedies,  said  to  be  written  in  sixteen  days, 
cannot  be  supposed  to  have  been  original  productions,  but  translaiions 
from  some  of  the  Greek  poets,  of  which  Quintus  was  a  great  master : 
fini-^hed  by  him  in  haste  for  the  enteriainraent  of  the  camp  :  for  the 
word  Troadem  in  the  text,  the  name  of  one  of  them,  should  most  pro- 
bably be  Troades,  the  title  of  one  of  Euripides's  plays ;  as  the  Ekctra 
also  was. 

*  Quod  me  de  facipudis  versibus  rogas,  incredibile  est.  mi  frater, 
quantum  egeam  tempore — Facerem  tamen  ut  possera,  sed — Opus  est 
ad  poema  quadam  animi  alacritate,  quam  plane  mihi  tempora  eripiunt. 
lb.  3.  5. 

De  versibus— deest  mihi  opera,  quae  non  modo  tempus,  sed  etiara 
animum  ab  omni  cura  vacuum  desiderat :  sed  abest  etiam  «v9;!/£r/«(r^5f 
etc.     lb.  4. 

t  Sed  heus  tu,  celari  videor  a  tc,  quomodonam,  mi  frater,  de  nos(ris 
versibus  Caesar  ?  Nam  primum  librum  se  legissc  scripsit  ad  me  ante  : 


no  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  UA.  699.    Cic.  53.  Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.     A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

gan  however  another  poem,  at  his  brother's  earnest 
request,  to  be  addressed  to  Caesar,  but,  after  some 
progress,  was  so  dissatisfied  with  it,  that  he  tore  it  :* 
yet  Quintus  still  urging;,  and  signifying,  that  he  had 
acquainted  Caesar  with  the  design,  he  was  obliged 
to  resume  it,  and  actually  finished  an  epick  poem  in 
honour  of  Caesar ;  which  he  promises  to  send  as 
soon  as  he  could  find  a  proper  conveyance,  that  it 
might  not  be  lost,  as  ftuintus's  tragedy  of  Erigone 
w^as  in  coming  from  Gaul ;  "  the  only  thing,"  says 
he,  "  which  had  not  found  a  safe  passage,  since 
"  Caesar  governed  that  province."! 

While  Cicero  was  expressing  no  small  dissatisfac- 
tion at  the  measures  which  his  present  situation 
obliged  him  to  pursue,  Caesar  was  doing  every 
thing  in  his  power  to  make  him  easy  :  he  treated 
his  brother  with  as  much  kindness  as  if  Cicero  him- 
self had  been  his  general  ;  gave  him  the  choice  of 
his  winter  quarters,  and  the  legion  which  he  best 
liked  :t  and   Clodius  happening   to   write  to  him 

et  prima  sic,  ut  neget  se  ne  Graeca  quidepi  meliora  legisse  ;  reliqua  ad 
qnendam  ]ocum^uBu/ucere^tt.  Hoc  enira  iititur  verbo.  Die  mihi  veriira, 
num  aut  res  enm  ant  XH*'^'^"^  "®"  deJectat  ?  Nihil  est  quod  vereare. 
Ego  enim  ne  pilo  quidein  minus  me  amabo.     lb.  2.  16. 

*  Poema  ad  Caesarem,  quod  composuerara,  ineidi.     lb.  3.  1.  $.  4. 

t  Quod  me  institutum  ad  ilium  poema  jubes  perficere  ;  etsi  distentus 
tum  opera,  tum  animo  sum  multo  magis.  quoniam  ex  epistola,  quam 
ad  te  miseram,  cognovit  Caesar  me  aliquid  esse  exorsum ;  revertar  ad 
institutum.     lb.  8. 

Quod  me  hortaris,  ut  absolvam,  habeoabsolutum  suave,  mihi  quidem 
uti  videtur,  «t:c  ad  Caesarem.  ^ed  quaero  locupletem  tabellarium,  ne 
accidat  quod  Erigonae  tuae ;  fcui  soli,  Caesare  imperatore,  iter  ex 
Gallia  tutum  non  liiit.     lb.  9. 

l  Quintum  meum-:-Dii  boni  1  quemadmodum  tractat,  honore,  digni- 
tate,  gratia  ?  IVon  secus  ac  si  ego  essem  Imperator.  Hibernam  legio- 
ncm  eligendi  optio  delata  commodum,  ut  ad  me  scribit.     Ad  Att.  1.18. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  Ul 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

from  Rome,  he  shewed  the  letter  to  Quiiitus,  and 
declared  that  he  would  not  answer  it ;  thouoli  Quin- 
tus  civilly  pressed  him  not  to  put  such  an  affront 
upon  Clodius  for  their  sakes.^  In  the  midst  of  all 
his  hurry  in  Britain,  he  sent  frequent  accounts  to 
Cicero,  in  his  own  hand,  of  his  progress  and  suc- 
cess ;  and  at  the  instant  of  quitting  the  island,  wrote 
to  him  from  the  very  shore,  of  the  embarkment  of 
the  troops,  and,  his  having  taken  hostages,  and  im- 
posed a  tribute :  and,  lest  he  should  be  surprised 
at  having  no  letters,  at  the  same  time,  from  his  bro- 
ther, he  acquaints  him,  that  Quintus  was  then  at  a 
distance  from  him,  and  could  not  take  the  benefit 
of  that  express :  Cicero  received  all  these  letters 
at  Rome,  in  less  than  a  month  after  date,  and  takes 
notice,  in  one  of  them,  that  it  arrived  on  the  twen- 
tieth day  ;  a  despatch  equal  to  that  of  our  present 
couriers  by  the  post.f 

As  to  the  news  of  the  city,  this  summer,  Cicero 
tells  his  bi  other,  "  that  there  were  some  hopes  of 
"  an  election  of  magistrates,  but  those  uncertain ; 
"  some  suspicion  of  a  dictator,  yet  that  not  more 
"  certain ;  a  great  calm  in  the  forum ;  but  of  a  city, 

*  In  qua  primiim  est  de  Clodii  ad  Caesarem  Uteris,  io  quo  Cacsaris 
consilium  probo,  quod  tibi  amantissime  petenli  veniam  non  dedit,  ui 
ullum  ad  iilaiu  Furiam  verbum  rescriberet.     Ad  Quint.  3.  1.  (■.  -i. 

f  Ab  Quinto  fratre  et  a  Caesare  accepi  A.  D.  IX.  Kal.  Nov.  literas, 
confecta  Britannia,  obsidibus  acceptis,  nulla  praeda,  iinperaXa  tainen 
pecunia.  datas  a  littoribus  Britanniae,  proximo  A.  D.  VI.  Kal.  Octob. 
exercitum  Britannia  reportabaui.     Ad  Att.  4.  17. 

Ex  Britannia  Caesar  ad  me  Kal.  Sept.  dcdit  literas:  quas  ego  ac- 
cepi A.  D.  Iin.  Kal.  Octob.  satis  conimodas  de  Britannicis  rebus: 
quibus,  ne  admirer,  quod  a  te  nullas  acceperim,  scribit  sc  sine  te  fu- 
isse.  cum  ad  mare  accesserit.     Ad  Quint.  3.  1.  J.  7. 

Cum  banc  jam  epistolam  complicarem,  tabellarii  a  vobis  venertuit 
ad  D.  XI.  Kal.  Sept.  vicesimo  die      n>.  3.  1.  S  5 


112  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vi, 


A.  Uib.  699.    Cic.  S3.  Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobaihus.    A.  Claudius  Pulchar. 

"  seemed  to  be  quieted  rather  by  the  effects  of  ay^e, 
"  than  of  concord  :  that  his  own  conduct,  as  wtll 
"  in  publick  as  in  private,  was  just  what  Quintus 
"  had  advised,  softer  than  the  tip  of  his  ear ;  and 
"  his  votes  in  the  senate,  such  as  pleased  others 
"  rather  than  himself 

•«  Such  ills  do  wretched  war  and  discord  breed, 

"  that  bribery  was  never  carried  so  hioh,  as  at  this 
"  time,  by  the  consular  candidates,  Memmius,  Do- 
"  mitius,  Scaurus,  Messala ;  that  they  were  all 
"  alike  ;  no  eminence  in  any :  for  money  levelled 
"  the  dignity  of  them  all :  that  above  eio;hty  thou- 
'*  sand  pounds  was  promised  to  the  first  tribe  ;  and 
"  money  j^rown  so  scarce,  by  this  profusion  of  it, 
"  that  interest  was  risen  from  four  to  eight  per 
"  cent."^ 

Miemmius  and  Cn.  Domitius,  who  joined  their 
interests,  made  a  strange  sort  of  contract  with  the 
consuls,  which  was  drawn  up  in  writing,  and  attest- 
ed in  proper  form,  by  many  of  their  friends  on  both 
sides ;  by'^whidi,  '*  the  consuls  obliged  themselves 
"  to  serve  them  with  all  their  power  in  the  ensuing 
"  election  ;  and  they  on  their  part  undertook,  when 
''  elected,  to  procure  for  the  consuls  what  provin- 


*  Res  Roraanae  sic  se  hahebant.  Erat  nonnulla  spes  comitiorum, 
sed  incerta  :  erat  aliqua  siispicio  Dictatnrae,  ne  ca  quidem  certa  : 
suminuin  otium  forense  ;  sed  senescentis  magis  civitatis,  qnara  adquies- 
centis.  Sententia  autem  nostra*  in  senatii  ejusmodi,  magis  ut  alii  nobis 
assentiantur,  quam  nosraet  ipsi. 

TotAvB^  0  TKy^fxaiv  7roKiy.o?i^i^yu.^i]ct:.      Elirip.    Ikctid. 

Ambitus  redit  immanis,  nunquam  par  fuit.     Ad  Quint.  2.  15. 

Seqnere  me  nunc  in  campiini.  Ardet  ambitus.  o-nfAO.  S't  rot  (^ia : 
foenus  ex  triente  Idib.  Quint,  factum  erat  bessibus — s|'>;^>)  in  nulloest, 
pecunia  omnium  dignitatem  exaoquat Ad  Att.  4.  1/5. 


SECT.  Ti.  CICERO.  113 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.-.L.  Domitius  Ahenoharbus.     A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

*'  ces  they  desired ;  and  gave  a  bond  of  above 
"  3000/.  to  provide  three  augurs,  who  should  tes- 
"  tify,  that  they  were  present  at  making  a  law  for 
"  granting  them  those  provinces,  when  no  such  law 
"  had  ever  been  made ;  and  two  consular  senators, 
"  who  should  affirmr  that  they  were  present  like- 
"  wise  at  passing  a  decree  of  the  senate,  for  fur- 
"  nishing  the  same  provinces  with  arms  and  money, 
"  when  the  senate  had  never  been  consulted  about 
"  it."  ^  Memmius,  w  ho  was  strongly  supported  by 
Caesarf  finding  some  reason  to  dislike  his  bar- 
gain, resolved  to  break  it,  and,  by  Pompey's  advice 
gave  an  account  of  it  to  the  senate.  Pompey 
was  pleased  with  the  opportunity  of  mortifying 
the  consul  Domitius;  and  willing,  likewise,  to  lake 
some  revenge  on  Appius,  who,  though  his  near  re- 
lation, did  not  enter  so  fully  as  he  expected  into 
his  measures  :%  but  Caesar  was  much  out  of  hu- 
mour at  this  step  ;J  as  it  was  likely  to  raise  great 
scandal  in  the  city,  and  strengthen  the  interest  of 
those,  who  were  endeavouring  to  restrain  that  in- 
famous corruption,  which  was  the  main  instrument 
of  advancing  his  power.     Appius  never  changed 

*€onsuIes  flagrant  infaiiiia.  qurd  C.  Memmius  candidatus  pactiooem 
in  senatii  recitavit,  quara  ipse  et  suus  competitor  Domitius  cum  con- 
sulibas  fecissent,  uti  ambo  H.  S.  quadragena  consulibusdarent,  si  es- 
sent  ipsi  consuies  lacti,  nisi  tres  augures  dedissent,  qui  se  adfuisse 
dicerent,  cum  lex  curiata  ferretur,  quae  lata  non  esset;  et  duo  consu- 
lares.  qui  se  dicerent  in  ornandis  provinciis  cousularibus  scribendo 
affuisse,  cum  onmino  ne  senatus  quid^jm  afluissent.  Haec  paciio  non 
verbis  sed  nominibus  et  perscriptionibus,  mul'.orum  tabuiis  cum  esse 
fecta  diceretur,  prolata  a  Memmio  est  nominibus  inductis  auctore 
Pompeio— Ad  Att.  4.  18. 

f  Memmium  Caesaris  omnes  opes  confirmant lb.  15.  17. 

JDio.  I.  39.  p.  118. 

§Ut   qui  jam  intelligebamus  enunciationem   illain    Memmii    va)de 
Caesari  displicere — Ad  Att.  4.  16. 
VOL.  ir.  1.^ 


114  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  y!. 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobaibus.    A.  Claudius   Pulcher. 

countenance,  nor  lost  any  credit  by  the  discovery  ; 
but  his  colleague  Domitius,  who  affected  the  cha- 
racter of  a  patriot,  was  extremely  discomposed  ; 
and  Memmius,  now  grown  desperate,  resolved  to 
promote  the  general  disorder,  and  the  creation  of  a 
Dictator.^ 

Quintus  sent  his  brother  word  from  Gaul,  that  it 
was  reported  there,  that  he  was  present  at  this  con- 
tract :  but  Cicero  assures  him  that  it  was  false,  and 
that  the  bargain  was  of  such  a  nature,  as  Memmiufe 
had  opened  it  to  the  senate,  that  no  honest  man 
could  have  been  present  at  it.f  The  senate  was 
highly  incensed  ;  and,  to  check  the  insolence  of 
the  parties  concerned,  passed  a  decree,  that  their 
conduct  should  be  inquired  into  by  what  they  call- 
ed a  private,  or  silent  judgment ;  where  the  sen- 
tence was  not  to  be  declared  till  after  the  election, 
yet  so,  as  to  make  void  the  election  of  those,  w4io 
should  be  found  guilty  :  this  they  resolved  to  exe- 
cute with  rigour,  and  make  an  allotment  of  judges 
for  that  purpose  :  for  some  of  the  Tribunes  were 
prevailed  with  to  interpose  their  negative,  on  pre- 
tence of  hkidering  all  inquisitions,  not  specially 
authorised  by  the  people.  J 


*  Hie  Appius  erat  idem  ;  nihil  sane  jarturae.  Corruerat  alter,  et 
plane,  inqiiarn,  jacebat.  Meiriniiiis  autt^m — plane  refVixerat,  et  eo 
magis  nunc  cogitare  Dictaturam,  turn  favere  justitio  et  omnium  reium 
liceutiae.     lb.  18. 

f  Quod  scribis  te  audisse,  in  candidatorum  consnlarium  coitione  me 
interfuisse,  id  lalsum  est.  Pjus^riodi  onim  paetiones  in  ista  coitione 
factae  sunt,  quas  post'i^a  Menimibs  patefecit,  ut  nemo  bonus  inteiesse 
debuerit Ad  Uuint.  3.  1.  ^  5. 

I  Atsenatus  decrevit  ut  taciturn  judicium  ante  comitia  ficret 

Magnus  timor  candidatorum.  Se"d  quidam  judices — Tribunes  pJ  ap- 
pcllarunt,  ne  injussu  populi  jiidicarcnt.  lies  cadit.  comitia  dilaia  ex 
S.  C.  dum  lex  de  tacito  judicio  ierretur.  Venit  legi  dies.  Terentius 
intercessit. Ad  Att.  4.  16. 


sfccT.  VI.  CICERO.  115 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulclier. 


This  detestable  bargain  of  forgino;  laws  and  de- 
crees at  pleasure,  in  whicli  so  many  of  tlie  first 
ranks  were  concerned,  either  as  principals  or  wit- 
nesses, is  alleged,  b^  an  ingenious  Fiench  writer, 
as  a  tiagrant  instance  of  that  lit)ertinism  which 
hastened  the  destruction  of  Rome.*  So  far  are 
private  vices  from  being  publick  benefits,  that  this 
great  republick,  of  all  others  the  most  free  and 
flourishing,  ow^ed  the  loss  of  its  liberty  to  nothing 
els^  but  a  general  defection  of  its  citizens  from 
the  probity  and  discipline  of  their  ancestors.  Ci- 
cero oftenforetells  their  approaching  ruin  from  this 
very  cause  ;  and  when  he  bewails  the  wretchedness 
of  the  times,  usually  joins  the  wickedness  of  their 
morals,  as  the  genuine  source  of  it.f 

But  lest  these  corrupt  candidates  should  escape 
without  punishment,  they  were  all  publickly  im- 
peached by  different  prosecutors,  and  the  city  w^as 
now  in  a  great  ferment  about  them ;  "  since,"  as 
Cicero  says,  "  either  the  men  or  the  laws  must  ne- 
"  cessarily  perish  ;  yet  they  will  all,"  says  he,  "  be 
"  acquitted  ;  for  trials  are  now  managed  so  cor- 
^'  ruptly,  that  no  man  will  ever  be  condemned»for 
"  the  future,  unless  for  murder."}     But  Q,.  Scae- 

*  Considerations  sur  les  causes  de  la  grandeur,  etc.  des  Romains.  c.  x. 

f  His  praesertim  moribus  atque  temporibus,  quibus  ita  prolapsa 
resp.  est,  ut  omnium  opibus  refraenanda,  ac  coercenda  sit.  De  l)i- 
vin.  2.  2. 

Qui  sit  remp.  afflictam  et  oppressam  miseris  temporibus,  ac  perdi- 
tis  moribus,  in  vetcrem  dignitatam  et  libertatem  vindicaturus. — Ep. 
Fam.  2.  5. 

J  De  ambitu  postulati  sunt  omnes,  qui  consulatum  pctant— Magno 
res  in  motu  est.  Propterea  quod  aut  hominum  aiit  legum  interitus 
ostenditur — Ad  Quint.  3.  2. 

Sed  omnes  absolventur,  nee  posthac  quisquam  daranabitur,  nisi  qui 
liominem  ocoiderit.     Ad  Att.  4.  10. 


116  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

vola,  one  of  the  tribunes,  took  a  more  effectual 
way  to  mortify  them,  by  resolving  to  hinder  any 
election  of  consuls  during;  his  magistracy,  in  which 
he  persevered,  and  by  his  aulhority  dissolved  all 
the  assemblies  convened  for  that  purpose.*  The 
tribunician  candidates,  however,  were  remarkably 
modest  this  year;  for  they  made  an  agreement 
among  themselves,  which  they  all  confirmed  by  an 
oath,  "  That,  in  prosecuting  their  several  interests, 
**  thev  would  submit  their  conduct  to  the  ludor- 
"  ment  of  Cato,  and  deposit  four  thousand  pou*ids 
"  a  piece  in  his  hands,  to  be  forfeited  by  those 
"  whom  he  should  condemn  of  any  irregular  prac- 
"  tice.  If  the  election  proves  free,"  says  Cicero, 
"  as  it  is  thought  it  will,  Cato  alone  can  do  more 
''  than  all  the  laws  and  all  the  jud  ges."t 

A  great  part  of  this  year  was  taken  up  in  pub- 
lick  trials:  SufFenas  and  .C.  Cato,  who  had  been 
tribunes  two  years  before,  were  tried  in  the  begin- 
ning of  July,  for  violence  and  breach  of  peace  in 
their  magistracy,  and  both  acquitted ;  but  Pro- 
cilius,  one  of  their  colleagues,  "  was  condemned 
"  for  killing  a  citizen  in  his  own  house  :  whence 
"  we  are  to  collect,"  says  Cicero,  "  that  our  Are- 
"  opagites  value  neither  bribery  nor  elections,  nor 
>*  interregnums,  nor  attt^mpts  against  the  state,  nor 


♦  Comitiorum  qiiotidie  siiij^uli  dies  tolluntur  obnuntiationibus,  mag- 
na volantate  bononim — Ad  Quint.  3.  3. 

Obnuntiationibus  per  Scaevolam  interpositis,  singulis  diebus 

Ad  Att.  4.  16.  > 

f  Tribunitii  eandidati  jurarunt  se  arbitrio  Catonis  petituros :  apud 
eum  U.S.  quingena  deposuerunt ;  ut  qui  a  Caione  damnatus  esset,  id 
perderet,  et  corapetitoribus  tribne;etur — Si  (omitia,  ut  putantur, 
gratuita  fuerint  ;  plus  unus  Cato  potuerit,  quara  oiunes  quidem  judi- 
ces.    lb,  1,5.    Ad  Quint.  2.  15. 


SECT.    VI 


CICERO.  iir 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


"  the  whole  republick,  a  rush  ;  we  must  not  mur- 
*•  der  a  man  indeed  in  his  own  house,  thous^h  thet 
"  perhaps  mi^ht  be  done  moderately,  since  twenty- 
"  two  acquitted  Procilius,  when  twenty-eioht  con- 
"  demned  him."*  Clodius  was  tlie  accuser  in  these 
impeachments,  which  made  Cato,  as  soon  as  he 
was  acquitted,  seek  a  reconciliation  with  Cicero 
and  Milo.f  It  was  not  Cicero's  business  to  reject 
the  friendship  of  an  active  and  popular  senator, 
and  Milo  had  occasion  for  his  service,  in  his  ap- 
proaching suit  for  the  consulship.  But  thoui>,h  Ci- 
cero had  no  concern  in  these  trials,  he  was  con- 
tinually employed  in  others,  through  the  rest  of 
the  summer  :  "  I  was  never,"  says  he,  "  more  busy 
"  in  trials  than  now  ;  in  the  worst  season  of  the 
*'  year,  and  the  greatest  heats  that  we  have  ever 
"  known  ;  there  scarce  passes  a  day  in  which  I  do 
"  not  defend  some."f  Besides  his  clients  in  the 
city,  he  had  several  towns  and  colonies  under  his 
patronage,  which  sometimes  wanted  his  help  abroad, 
as  the  corporation  of  Keate  did  now,  to  plead  for 
them  before  the  consul  Appius,  and  ten  commis- 
sioners, in  a  controversy  with  their  neighbours  of 
Interamna,  about  draining  the  lake  Yelinus  into  the 
river  Nar,  to  the  damage  of  their  grounds.     He 


*  III.  Non.  Quint.  Suflfenas  et  Cato  absoluti :  Procilius  condemiia- 
tus.  Ex  quo  intellectum  est,  r^KrA^uiTraytrxc,  ambitum,  comitia,  in- 
terregnum, majeslalem,  totam  deniquo  Hemp,  flocii  noo  facere.  Pe- 
bemus   patr«in   Caniilias   domi  suae  occidere  nolle,   neque   tanien  id 

ipsurn  at)uude.     Nam  absolverunt  22,  condemnarunt  28. Ad  Att. 

4.   1/J. 

f  Is  tamen  et  mecum  et  cum  Milone  in  gratiam  rcdiit.     lb.  16. 

I  Sic  enim  babeto  nunquam  me  a  causis  et  judiciis  disfrictiorem 
fuisse,  atque  id  anni  tempore  gravissimo,  et  caiuiibus  maximis.  Ad 
Quint.  2    16. 

Diem  scito  esse  nullum,  quo  non  dice  pro  reo.     lb.  3.  3-. 


118  THE    LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— D.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

returned  from  this  cause  in  the  midst  of  the  Apol- 
linarian  shows,  and,  to  relieve  himself  from  the  fa- 
tigue of  his  journey,  went  directly  to  the  theatre, 
where  he  was  received  by  an  universal  clap  :  in  the 
account  of  which  to  Atticus,  he  adds,  but  this  you 
are  not  to  take  notice  of,  and  I  am  a  fool  indeed 
myself  for  mentioning  it.^^ 

He  now  also  defended  Messius,  one  of  Caesar's 
lieutenants,  who  came  from  Gaul  on  purpose  to 
take  his  trial :  then  Drusus,  accused  of  prevaricat- 
ing or  betraying  a  cause,  which  he  had  undertaken 
to  defend ;  of  which  he  was  acquitted  by  a  ma- 
jority only  of  four  voices.  After  that  Vatinius, 
the  last  year's  praetor,  and  Aemilius  Scaurus,  one 
of  the  consular  candidates,  accused  of  plundering 
the  province  of  Sardinia;!  and  about  the  same 
time  likewise,  his  old  friend,  Cn.  Plancius;  who 
had  entertained  him  so  generously  in  his  exile, 
and,  being  now  chosen  aedile,  was  accused  by  a 
disappointed  competitor,  M.  Laterensis,  of  bribery 
and  corruption.  All  these  were  acquitted,  but 
the  orations  for  them  are  lost,,  except  that  for  Plan- 
cius ;  whicti  remains  a  perpetual  monument  of  Ci- 
cero's gratitude :  for  Plancius  having  obtained  the 
tribunate  from  the  people,  as  the  reward  of  his  fideli- 

*  Reatini  me  ad  sua  Ti/uTrn  duxerimt,  iit  agerera  causara  contra  In- 
teramiiates — Redii  Romara — Veni  in  spectaculum  ;  primum  inagno 
et  aeqnabili  plausu,  (sed  hoc  ne  curaris ;  ego  ineptus  qui  scripserim) 
Ad  Att.  4.  15. 

f  Messins  defendebatur  a  noWs,  e  legatione  revocatus.  Deinde  me 
cxpedio  ad  Drusum,  inde  ad  Scaurura.     Ibid. 

Drusus  erat  de  prevaricatione — absolutus,  in  summa  quatuor  sen- 
tententiis.  Eodera  die  post  meridiem  Vatiuium  aderara  defensurus ; 
ea  res  facilis.  Scauri  judicium  statira  exercebitur,  cui  nos  non  deeri- 
mus.     Ad  Quint.  2.  16. 

Scaurura  beneficio  defensionis  valde  obligavi.     lb.  3.  1.  §  5. 


SECT.   VI.  CICERO.  119 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


ty  to  Cicero,  did  not  behave  himself  in  that  post 
with  the  same  affection  to  him  as  before,  but  seems 
studiously  to  have  slighted  him;  while  several  of 
his  colleagues,  and  especially  Racilius,  were  ex- 
erting all  their  power  in  the  defence  of  his  person 
and  dignity.^  Yet  Cicero  freely  undertook  his 
cause,  and  as  if  no  coldness  had  intervened,  dis- 
played the  merit  of  his  services  in  the  most  pa- 
thetick  and  affecting  manner  ;  and  rescued  him 
from  the  hands  of  a  powerful  accuser,  and  his 
own  particular  friend.  "  Drusus's  trial  was  held 
"  in  the  morning ;  from  which,  after  going  home 
"  to  write  a  few  letters,  he  was  obliged  to  return 
"  to  Yatinius's  in  the  afternoon:"  which  gives  us  a 
specimen  of  the  hurry  in  which  he  generally  lived, 
and  of  the  little  time  which  he  had  to  spend  upon 
his  private  affairs,  or  his  studies ;  and  though  he 
was  now^  carrying  on  several  great  works  of  the 
learned  kind,  "  yet  he  had  no  other  leisure,"  he 
tells  us,  "  for  meditating  and  composing,  but  when 
"he  was  taking  a  few  turns  in  his  gardens,  for  the  ex- 
"  ercise  of  his  body,  and  refreshment  of  his  voice."t 
Yatinius  had  been  one  of  his  fiercest  enemies ; 
was  in  a  perpetual  opposition  to  him  in  politicks ; 
and,  like  Bestia,  mentioned  above,  a  seditious,  pro- 
fligate, abandoned  libertine :  so  that  the  defence 
of  him  gave  a  plausible  handle  for  some  censure 
upon  Cicero  :  but  his  engagements  with  Pompey, 
and  especially  liis  new  friendship  with  Caesar, 
made  it  necessary  to  embrace  all  Caesar's  friends  ; 

*  Negas  tribunatiim  Plancii  qiiicqiiam  attulisse  adjiiftienti  dignitati 
meae.  Atque  hoc  loco.  Jquod  verissime  facere  potcs.  L.  Kacilii — 
diviua  in  me  tnerita  commenjoras,  etc     Pro  Plancio,  32. 

f  Ita  quicquid  conficio  aut  cogito  in  ambnlationis  forp  tempiw 
conrero.     Ad  Quint.  3.  3. 


120  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vi 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Aheuobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Puicher. 


amon^y  whom  Yatinius  was  most  warmly  recom- 
mended to  him. 

Gabinius  being  recalled,  as  has  been  said,  from 
his  government,  returned  to  Rome  about  the  end 
of  September:   he   bragged  every   where  on  his 
journey,  that  he  was  going  to  the  demand  of  a  tri- 
umph; and,  to  carry  on  that  farce,  continued  a 
while  without  the  gates  ;  till  perceiving  how  odious 
he  was  to  all  within,  he  stole  privately  into  the  city 
by  night,  to  avoid  the  disgrace  of  being  insulted 
by  the  populace.*     There  were  three  different  im- 
peachments provided  against   him :   the  first,   for 
treasonable  practices  against  the  state  ;  the  second, 
for  the  plunder  of  his  province  ;  the  third,  for  bri- 
bery and  corruption  ;  and  so  many  persons  offered 
themselves  to  be  prosecutors,  that  there  was  a  con- 
test among  them  before  the  praetor,  how  to  adjust 
their  several  claims.f     The  first  indictment  fell  to 
L.  tentulus,  who  accused  him  the  day  after  he  en- 
tered the  city,  "  that,  in  defiance  of  religion  and 
"  the  decree  of  the  senate,  he  had  restored  the  king 
"  of  Egypt  w^ith  an  army,  leaving  his  own  province 
"  naked,  and  open  to  the  incursion  of  enemies, 
"  who  had  made  great  devastations  in  it."     Cicero, 
who  had  received  from  Gabinius  all  the  provoca- 
tion  which  one  man  could  receive  from  another, 
had  the  pleasure  to  see  his  insolent  adversary  at 

*  Ad  urbem  accessit  A.  D.  xii.  Kal.  Oct.  nihil  turpius,  nee  deser- 
tins.     Ad  Quint.  Fr.  3.  1.  §  .^., 

Cum  Gabinms,  quacunque  Ven-ebat,  triiiniphiiin  se  postulare  dixis- 
set,  subitoqiK^oniis  imperator  noctu  in  urbcm,  liostium  piaue,  inva- 
sisset.     lb.  2. 

f  Gabininm  tres  adhuc  f'actiones  postulant,  etc.     lb.  1    §  .*>. 

Ciiiii  has^c  scribebani  auto  lucem,  apud  Caionc-m  ^rat  divinatio  in 
Gabiuiiiin  fuiura,  inter  Mcmmium,  ct  Ti.  JNeronein,  et  C.  et  L.  Anto- 
nios.     lb.  2. 


SECT.    IV.  CICERO.  i2i 


A.  tt*k  09©.    Cic  53.    Cosa.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobatbus.    A.  Claudius  Puleher. 


his  feet,  and  was  prepared  lo  give  him  such  a  re- 
ception as  he  deserved  ;  but  Gabinius  durst  not 
venture  to  shew  his  head  for  the  first  ten  days,  till 
he  was  obliged  to  come  to  the  senate,  in  order  to 
give  them  an  account,  according  to  custom,  of  the 
state  of  his  province,  and  the  troops  which  he  had 
left  in  it :  As  soon  as  he  had  told  his  story,  he  was 
going  to  retire,  but  the  consuls  detained  him,  to 
answer  to  a  complaint  brought  against  him  by  the 
publicans,  or  farmers  of  the  revenues,  who  were 
attending  at  the  doors  to  make  it  good.  This  drew 
on  a  debate,  in  which  Gabinius  was  so  urged  and 
teazed  on  all  sides,  but  especially  by  Cicero,  that, 
trembling  with  passion,  and  unable  to  contain  him- 
self, he  called  Cicero  a  banished  man  ;  upon  which, 
says  Cicero,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  "  nothing 
"  ever  happened  more  honourable  to  me :  the 
"  whole  senate  left  their  seats  to  a  man,  and,  with 
"  a  general  clamour,  ran  up  to  his  very  face  ;  while 
"  the  publicans  also  were  equally  fierce  and  cla- 
"  morous  against  him,  and  the  whole  company  be- 
"  haved  just  as  you  yourself  would  have  done/'* 

Cicero  had  been  deliberating  for  some  time, 
whether  he  should  not  accuse  Gabinius  himself; 
but,  out  of  regard  to  Pompey,  was  content  to  ap- 
pear only  as  a  witness  against  him  ;t  and,  when  the 


*  Interim  ipso  decimo  die,  quo  ipsuin  oportebat  hostium  nuinerum 
et  militiim  rennnciare,  in  re  haesit,  summa  in  freqiientia  :  cum  vellet 
exire,  a  eonsniibus  retentus  est;  iiiirodiicti  publicani.  Homo  uudique 
actus,  cum  a  me  maxime  vulneraretur.  non  tulit,  et  metrementi  voce 
exulera  appellavit.  Hie,  O  Dii,  nihil  unqiiam  honorificentius  nobis  ac- 
cidit.  Cousnrrexit  senatus  cum  clamore  ad  unuin,  sic  uL  ad  corpus  ejus 
accederet.  Pari  clamore  atque  irapetu  publicaui.  Quid  quaeris  ? 
Omnes,  tanquara,  si  tu  esses,  ita  fuerunt.     lb. 

f  Ego  tamen  me  teneo  ab  accusando  vix  mehercule.  Sed  tameo  te- 
neo,  vel  quod  nolo  cum  Porapeio  pugnare :  satis  est.  quod  instat  de 
Milone.     lb.  3.  2. 

VOL.    IT.  16 


122  THE    LfFE    OF  sect,  rr. 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53,    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Abenobaibus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

trial  was  over,  gives  the  following  account  of  it  to 
his  brother. 

"  Gabinius  is  acquitted  :  nothing  was  ever  so  stu- 
*'  pid  as  his  accuser,  Lentulus  ;  nothinsr  so  sordid  as 
"  the  bench  :  yet  if  Pompey  had  not  taken  incredi- 
"  ble  pains,  and  the  rumour  of  a  dictatorship  had 
"  not  infused  some  apprehensions,  he  could  not 
"  have  held  up  his  head  even  against  Lentulus : 
"  since,  with  such  an  accuser,  and  such  judges  ;  of 
"  the  seventy-two  who  sat  upon  him,  thirty-two 
"  condemned  him.  The  sentence  is  so  infamous, 
"  that  he  seems  likely  to  fall  in  the  other  trials,  es- 
"  pecially  that  of  plunder  :  but  there  is  no  repub- 
"  lick,  no  senate,  no  justice,  no  dignity,  in  any  of 
"  us :  what  can  f  say  more  of  the  judges  ?  There 
"  were  but  two  of  them  of  praetorian  rank,  Domi- 
"  tins  Calvinus,  who  acquitted  him  so  forwardly, 
"  that  all  the  world  mi^ht  see  it ;  and  Cato,  who,  as 
"  soon  as  the  votes  were  declared,  ran  officious- 
"  ly  from  the  bench,  to  carry  the  news  to  Pom- 
*'  pey.  Some  say,  and  particularly  Sallust,  that  I 
"  ought  to  have  accused  him  ;  but  should  I  risk  my 
"  credit  \rkh  sucli  judges  1  What  a  figure  should 
"  I  have  made,  if  he  had  escaped  from  me  ?  But 
"  there  were  other  things  which  influenced  me  : 
"  Pompey  would  have  considered  it  as  a  struggle, 
"  not  about  Gabinius's  safety,  but  his  own  dignity  : 
"  it  must  have  made  a  breach  between  us :  we 
"  should  have  been  matched  like  a  pair  of  gladia- 
"  tors  ;  as  Pacidianus  w^ith  Aeserniijus  the  Samnite ; 
*'  he  would  probably  have  bit  off  one  of  my  ears, 
"  or  been  reconciled  at  least  with  C'lodius — for,  af- 
"  ter  all  the  pains,  which  I  had  taken  to  serve  him ; 
*'  when  I  owed  nothing  to  him,  he  every  thing  to 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  123 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domititis  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

**  me ;  yet  he  would  not  bear  my  differinii;  from 
"  him  in  publick  affairs,  to  say  no  worse  of  it ;  and, 
"  when  he  was  less  powerful  than  he  is  at  present, 
"  shewed  what  power  lie  had  acrainst  me,  in  my 
"  flourishing'  condition ;  why  should  I  now,  when  I 
"  have  lost  even  all  desire  of  power,  when  the  re- 
"  publick  certainly  has  none  ;  when  he  alone  has 
"  all ;  choose  him  of  all  men  to  contend  with  ;  for 
"  that  must  have  been  the  case ;  I  cannot  think  that 
"  you  would  have  advised  me  to  it.  Sallust  says, 
"  that  I  ought  to  have  done  either  the  one  or  the 
"  other ;  and  in  compliment  to  Pompey,  have  de- 
"  fended  him  ;  who  be«;2;ed  it  of  me  indeed  very 
"  earnestly — A  special  friend  this  Sallust  ?  to  wish 
"  me  to  involve  myself  either  in  a  dangerous  enmi- 
"  ty,  or  perpetual  infamy,  I  am  delighted  with 
"  my  middle  way ;  and  when  I  had  given  my  testi- 
"  mony  faithfully  and  religiously,  was  pleased  to 
"  hear  Gabinius  say,  that  if  it  should  be  permitted 
"  to  him  to  continue  in  the  city,  he  would  make  it 
"  his  business  to  give  me  satisfaction ;  nor  did  he 
"  so  much  as  interrogate  me."* — He  gives  the 
same  account  of  this  trial  to  his  other  friends; 
"  how  Lentulus  acted  his  part  so  ill,  that  people 
"  weie  persuaded  that  he  prevaricated — and  that 
"  Gabinius's  escape  was  owing  to  the  indefatigable 
"  industry  of  Pompey,  and  the  corruption  of  the 
*'  Bench."t 

About  the  time  of  this  trial   there   happened  a 
terrible  inundation  of  the  Tiber,   which  did  much 

*  Ad  Quint.  3.  4. 

t  Quomodo  ergo  absolutus  ? Accnsatonini  inciedihilis  inramia, 

id  est  L.  Lentuli,  quern  fVemuiit  omiies  praevaricatum  ;  deiiide  Pom- 
peii mira  contentlo,  judicum  sordes.     Ad  Att.  4.  16, 


124  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb-  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

damage  at  Rome :  many  houses  and  shops  were 
carried  away  by  it,  and  the  fine  gardens  of  Cicero's 
son  in  law,  Crassipes,  demolished.  It  was  all 
charged  to  the  absolution  of  Gabinius,  after  his 
daring  violation  of  religion,  and  contempt  of  the 
Sibyl's  books :  Cicero  applies  to  it  the  following 
passage  of  Horner.^ 

As  when  in  autumn  Jove  liis  fury  pours, 
And  earth  is  laden  with  incessant  sliowers ; 
When  guilty  mortals  break  th'  eternal  laws, 
And  judges  brib'd  betray  the  righteous  cause, 
From  their  deep  beds  he  bids  the  rivers  rise, 
And  opens  all  the  flood-gates  of  the  skies. 

Pope,  Iliad.  16.  v.  466. 

But  Gabinius's  danger  was  not  yet  over :  he  was 
to  be  tried  a  second  time,  for  the  plunder  of  his 
province  ;  where  C.  Memmius,  one  of  the  tribunes, 
was  his  accuser,  and  M.  Cato  his  judge,  with  whom 
he  was  not  likely  to  find  any  favour :  Pompey  pres- 
sed Cicero  to  defend  him,  and  would  not  admit  of 
any  excuse ;  and  Gabinius's  humble  behaviour  in 
the  late  trial  was  intended  to  make  way  for  Pom- 
pey's  solicitation.  Cicero  stood  firm  for  a  long 
time  :  "  Pompey,"  says  he,  "  labours  hard  with  me, 
"  but  has  yet  made  no  impression,  nor,  if  I  retain 
"  a  grain  of  liberty,  ever  will  ;t 

*  Roraae,  et  maxime  Appia  ad  Martis,  mira  proluvies.  Crassipedis 
ambulatio  ablata,    horti,  tabernae  plurimae.     Magna  vis  aquae  usque 

ad  piscinara   publicam.     Viget   illud  Homeri Cadit  enim  in  abso' 

lutionem  Gabinii — Ad  Quint.  3.  7. 

f  Pompeius  a  me  valde  contendit  de  reditu  in  gratiam,  sed  adhuc 
nihil  profecit :  nee,  si  uUam  partem  libertatis  tenebo,  proficiet. — Ad 
Quint.  3.  1.  5  5. 

De  Gabinio  nihil  fuit  faciendum  istorum,  etc.  tots  fxoi  ;^:«tvo/.  II.  4. 
gl8. 


S5ECT.  VI.  '     CICERO.  125 

A.  Vib.  A99.    Cie.  53.    Cou.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

Oh  !  e'er  that  dire  disgrace  shall  blast  my  fame, 
O'erwhelm  me  earth Iliad.  4.  218. 

but  Pompey's  incessant  importunity,   backed   by 
Caesar's  earnest  request,   made  it  vain  to  struggle 
any  longer;  and  forced  him,  against  his  judgment, 
his  resolution,  and  his  dignity,  to  defend  Gabinius  ; 
at  a  time  when  his  defence  at  last  proved  of  no  ser- 
vice to  him  ;  for  he  was  found  guilty  by  Cato,  and 
condemned  of  course  to  a  perpetual  banishment. 
It  is  probable  that  Cicero's  oration  was  never  pub- 
lished, but  as  it  was  his  custom  to  keep  the  minutes 
or  rough  draught  of  all  his  pleadings,  in  what  he 
called  his  commentaries,  which   were  extant  many 
ages  after  his  death  ;*  so  St.  Jerome  has  preserved 
from  them  a  small  fragment  of  this  speech ;  which 
seems  to  be  a  part  of  the   apology  that  he  found 
himself  obliged  to   make   for  it;  wherein  he   ob- 
serves,  ''  that   when  Pompey's  authority  had  once 
"  reconciled  him   to  Gabinius,  it  was  no  longer  in 
"  his  power  to    avoid  defending  him ;  for  it  was 
"  ever  my  persuasion,"  says  he,  ''  that   all  friend- 
"  ships   should  be  maintained  with  a  religious  ex- 
"  actness;  but  especially  those  which  happen  to  be 
"  renewed  from  a  quarrel  :  for  in  friendships,  that 
"  have  suffered  no  interruption,  a  failure  of  duty  is 
"  easily  excused  by  a  plea  of  inadvertency,  or  at 
"  the  worst,  of  negligence ;  whereas,  if  after  a  re- 
"  conciliation,  any  new  offence  be  given,   it  never 
"  passes  for  negligent,  but  wilful ;  and  is  not  im- 
"  puted  to  imprudence,  but  to  perfidy."t 

*  Quod  ferisse  M.  Tulliiim  Comraentariis  Ipsius  apparet.  Qnintil.  I. 
X.  c.  7. 

fVid.  Fragment.  Orationnm, 


126  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  699.     Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobaibos.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


The  proconsul,  Lentulus,  who  resided  still  in 
Cilicia,  having  had  an  account  from  Rome,  of  Ci- 
cero's change  of  conduct,  and  his  defence  of  Ya- 
tinius,  wrote  a  sort  of  expostulatory  letter  to  him, 
to  know  the  reasons  of  it ;  telling  him,  that  he  had 
heard  of  his  reconciliation  with  Caesar  and  Appius, 
for  which  he  did  not  blame  him ;  but  was  at  a  loss 
how  to  account  for  his  new  friendship  with  Crassus ; 
and  above  all,  w^hat  it  was,  that  induced  him  to  de- 
fend Yatinius.  This  gave  occasion  to  that  long  and 
elaborate  answer  from  Cicero,  already  referred  to, 
written  before  Gabinius's  trial :  which  could  other- 
wise have  made  his  apology  more  difficult,  in  which 
he  lays  open  the  motives  and  progress  of  his  whole 
behaviour  from  the  time  of  his  exile. — "  As  to  the 
"  case  of  Yatinius,"  he  says,  "  as  soon  as  he  was 
"  chosen  praetor,  where  I  warmly  opposed  him,  in 
"  favour  of  Cato,  Pompey  prevailed  with  me  to  be 
"  reconciled  to  him ;  and  Caesar  afterwards  took 
"  surprising  pains  with  me  to  defend  him  ;  to  which 
"  I  consented,  for  the  sake  of  doing  what,  as  I  told 
"  the  court  at  the  trial,  the  Parasite  in  the  Eunuch^ 
"  advised  his  patron  to  do  : 

"  Whenever  she  talks  of  Phaedria,  do  you  presently 
"  praise  Pamphila^  &c.  so  I  begged  of  the  judges, 
*'  that  since  certain  persons  of  distinguished  rank, 
*'  to  whom  I  was  much  obliged,  were  so  fond  of  my 
'  enemy,  and  affected  to  caress  him  in  the  senate, 
"  before  my  face,  whh  all  the  marks  of  familiarity ; 
"  and  since  they  had  their  Publius  to  give  me  jea- 
"  lousy,  I  might  be  allowed  to  have  my  Publius 
"  also,  to  teaze  them  with  in  my  turn."  Then  as  to 
his  general  conduct,  he  makes  this  general  defence ; 
"  that  the  union  and  firmness  of  the  honest,  which 
'•  subsisted  when  Lentulus   left  Rome,  confirmed. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  12r 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.  A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

"  says  he,  by  my  consulship,  and  revived  by  yours, 
*'  is  now  quite  broken  and  deserted  by  those  who 
«'  out/ht  to  have  supported  it,  and  were  looked  upon 
**  as  patriots ;  for  which  reason,  the  maxims  and 
*'  measures  of  all  wise  citizens,  in  which  class  I 
"  always  wished  to  be  ranked,  ought  to  be  chang- 
*'  ed  too  :  for  it  is  a  precept  of  Plato,  whose 
"  authority  has  the  greatest  weight  with  me,  to 
"  contend  in  publick  affairs,  as  far  as  we  can 
"  persuade  our  citizens,  but  not  to  offer  violence, 
*'  either  to  our  parent  or  our  country.  If  I 
"  was  quite  free  from  all  engagements,  I  should 
*'  act,  therefore,  as  I  now  do ;  should  not  think 
"  it  prudent,  to  contend  with  so  great  a  power  ; 
"  nor  if  it  could  be  effected,  to  extinguish  it  in 
"  our  present  circumstances  ;  nor  continue  always 
**  in  one  mind,  when  the  things  themselves  and  the 
"sentiments  of  the  honest  are  altered  ;  since  a  per- 
"petual  adherence  to  the  same  measures  has  never 
"  been  approved  by  those,  who  know  best  how  to 
"  govern  states ;  but  as  in  sailing,  it  is  the  busi- 
"  ness  of  art,  to  be  directed  by  the  weather,  and 
"  foolish  to  persevere  with  danger  in  the  course 
"  in  which  we  set  out,  rather  than,  by  changing  it, 
"to arrive  with  safety,  though  later,  where  we  in- 
"  tended  ;  so  to  us,  who  manage  publick  affairs, 
"  the  chief  end  proposed  being  dignity,  with  pub- 
"  lick  quiet,  our  business  is  not  to  be  always  say- 
"  ing,  but  always  aiming  at  the  same  thing. — 
"  Wherefore  if  all  things,  as  I  said,  where  wholly 
"  free  to  me,  I  should  be  the  same  man  that  I  now 
''  am :  but  wlien  I  am  invited  to  this  conduct  on 
"  the  one  side,  by  kindnesses,  and  driven  to  it  on 
'Hhe  other  by  injuries,  I  easily  suffer  myself  to 
"vote  and  act  what  l  take  to  be  useful  both  to  my- 


128  THE   LIFE    OF  seci.  ti. 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


"self  and  the  republick;  and  I  do  it  the  more 
"  freely,  as  well  on  the  account  of  my  brother's 
"  being  Caesar's  lieutenant,  as  that  there  is  not  the 
"  least  thing,  which  I  have  ever  said  or  done  for 
"  Caesar,  but  what  he  has  repaid  with  such  emi- 
*'  nent  gratitude,  as  persuades  me,  that  he  takes 
"  himself  to  be  obliged  to  me ;  so  that  I  have  as 
"  much  use  of  all  his  power  and  interest,  which 
"  you  know  to  be  the  greatest,  as  if  they  were  my 
**  own :  nor  could  I  otherwise  have  defeated  the 
"  designs  of  my  desperate  enemies,  if  to  those 
"  forces,  which  1  have  always  been  master  of,  I 
"  had  not  joined  the  favour  of  the  men  of  power. 
"  Had  you  been  here  to  advise  me,  I  am  persuad- 
**ed  that  I  should  have  followed  the  same  mea- 
"  sures ;  for  I  know  your  good  nature  and  mode- 
"  ration ;  I  know  your  heart,  not  only  the  most 
"  friendly  to  me,  but  void  of  all  malevolence  to 
"  others ;  great  and  noble,  open  and  sincere,  &:c."* 
He  6ften  defends  himself,  on  other  occasions,  by 
the  same  allusion  to  the  art  of  sailing  :  "  I  cannot 
«'  reckon  it  inconstancy,"  says  he  "  to  change  and 
"  moderate  our  opinion,  like,  the  course  of  a  ship, 
"  by  the  ^weather  of  the  republick  ;  this  is  what 
"  I  have  learnt,  have  observed,  have  read  ;  what 
"  the  records  of  former  ages  have  delivered,  of 
"the  wisest  and  most  eminent  citizens,  both  in  this 
"  and  all  other  cities ;  that  the  same  maxims  are 
"  not  always  to  be  pursued  by  the  same  men ;  but 
"  such,  whatever  they  be,  which  the  state  of  the 
"  republick,  the  inclination  of  the  times,  the  oc- 
"  casions  of  publick  peace  require  :  this  is  wiiat 
"'  I  am  now  doing,  and  shall  always  do.f" 


*  Ep.  Kara.  19. 

f  Nf'qne  enim   inconstant  is    pulo,    sententiam,    tanqdam   aliquod 
navigiura  atque  cursmn  ex  reip.  tcmpeslate  tnoderari.     Ego  vero  haec 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  129 


A.  Urf).  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobai'bus.    A.  Claudius  Pulpher. 

The  trial  of  C.  Rabirius  Postumus,  a  person  of 
equestrian  rank,  was  an  appendix  to  that  of  Gabi- 
nius.  It  was  one  of  the  articles  against  Gabinius, 
that  he  had  received  about  two  millions  for  restor- 
ing King  Ptolemy ;  yet  all  his  estate,  which  was 
to  be  found,  was  not  sufficient  to  answ^er  the  dama- 
ges in  which  he  was  condemned  ;  nor  could  he 
give  any  security  for  the  rest :  in  this  case,  the 
method  was,  to  demand  the  deficiency  from  those, 
through  whose  hand  the  management  of  his  money 
affairs  had  passed,  and  who  were  supposed  to  have 
been  sharers  in  the  spoil ;  this  was  charged  upon 
Rabirius  ;  and  that  he  had  advised  Gabinius  to  un- 
dertake the  restoration  of  the  king,  and  accompani- 
ed  him  in  it,  and  was  employed  to  solicit  the 
payment  of  the  money,  and  lived  at  Alexandria 
for  that  purpose,  in  the  king's  service,  as  the 
publick  receiver  of  his  taxes,  and  wearing  the  pal' 
Hum  or  habit  of  the  country. 

Cicefo  urged,  in  defence  of  Rabirius,  "  that  he 
"  had  borne  no  part  in  that  transaction ;  but  that 
"his  whole  crime,  or  rather  folly,  w^as,  that  he 
"  had  lent  the  king  great  sums  of  money  for  his 
"  support  at  Rome  :  and  ventured  to  trust  a  prince, 
"  who,  as  all  the  world  then  thought,  was  going 
"  to  be  restored  by  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
"  people :  that  the  necessity  of  going  to  Egypt 
"  for  the  recovery  of  that  debt,  was  the  source  of 


didici,  hac  vidi,  haec  scripta  legi :  haec  de  sapientissirais  et  claris* 
simis  viris,  et  in  hac  Repiib.  et  in  aliis  civitatibiis  nnonumenta  nobis 
et  literae  prodidenint :  non  semper  easdem  sentential?  ab  iisdem, 
sed  qiiJiscumque  reip.  status,  inclinatio  teraporuin,  ratio  coocordiae 
postiilaret,  esse  defendendas.  Quod  ego  et  facio,  et  seraper  faciara 
Pro  Plancio.  39. 


TOL.    II.  ^7 


130  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  ti 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.  Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcber. 

"  all  his  misery  ;  where  he  was  forced  to  take 
"  whatever  the  king^  would  give  or^  impose  :  that 
"  it  was  his  misfortune,  to  be  obliged  to  commit 
"  himself  to  the  power  of  an  arbitrary  monarch :  that 
"  nothing  could  be  more  mad,  than  for  a  Roman 
"  knight  and  citizen,  of  a  Republick,  of  all  others 
"  the  most  free,  to  go  to  any  place  where  he  must 
"  needs  be  a  slave  to  the  will  of  another ;  that  all  who 
"  ever  did  so,  as  Plato  and  the  wisest  had  sometimes 
"  done  too  hastily,  always  suffered  for  it  :  this  was 
*'  the  case  of  Rabirius :  necessity  carried  him  to 
*'  Alexandria  ;  his  whole  fortunes  were  at  stake  ;^ 
"  which  he  was  so  far  from  improving  by  his  traf- 
''  tick  with  that  king,  that  he  was  ill  treated  by 
"  him,  imprisoned,  threatened  with  death,  and  glad 
"  to  run  away  at  last  with  the  loss  of  all :  and,  at 
"  that  very  time,  it  was  wholly  owing  to  Caesar's 
"generosity,  and  regard  to  the  merit  and  misfor- 
"  tunes  of  an  old  friend,  that  he  was  enabled  to 
'*  sup'port  his  former  rank  and  equestrian  dignity 

" ."t     Gabinius's  trial  had  so   near  a  relation 

to  this,  and  was  so  often  referred  to  in  it,  that  the 
prosecutors  could  not  omit  so  fair  an  opportunity 
of  rallying* Cicero  for  the  part  which  he  had  acted 
in  it :  Memmius  observed,  "  that  the  deputies  of 
'^  Alexandria  had  the  same  reason  for  appearing  for 
^*  Gabinius,  which  Cicero  had  for  defending  him, 
"  the  command  of  a  master."—'^  No,  Memmius,'' 
replied  Cicero,  "  my  reason  for  defending  him  was 
''  a  reconciliation  with  him  ;  for,  T  am  not  ashamed 
*'  to  own,  that  my  quarrels  are  mortal,  my  friend- 
"  ships  immortal :  and  if  you  imagine  that  I  un- 
"  dertook  that   cause  for  fear  of  Pompey,   you 


*  Pro  Rabir.  8,  9.  f  lb.  9. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  131 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— -L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 


^'  neither  know  Pompey  nor  me ;  for  Pompey 
"  would  neither  desire  it  of  me  against  my  will ; 
*'  nor  would  1,  after  I  had  preserved  the  liberty  of 
*'  my  citizens,  ever  give  up  my  own."^ 

Valerius  Maximus  reckons  Cicero's  defence  of 
Gabinius  and  Vatinius,  among  the  great  and  lau- 
dable examples  of  humanity  which  the  Roman 
history  furnished ;  "  as  it  is  nobler,"  he  says,  "  to 
"conquer  injuries  with  benefits,  than  to  repay 
"them  in  kind,  with  an  obstinacy  of  hatred."t 
This  turn  is  agreeable  to  the  design  of  that  wri- 
ter, whose  view  it  seems  to  be,  in  the  collection 
of  his  stories,  to  give  us  rather  what  is  strange, 
than  true ;  and  to  dress  up  facts,  as  it  were,  into 
fables,  for  the  sake  of  drawing  a  moral  from  them : 
for,  whatever  Cicero  himself  might  say  for  it,  in  the 
flourishing  stile  of  an  oration,  it  is  certain  that  he 
knew  and  felt  it  to  be,  what  it  really  was,  an  in- 
dignity and  dishonour  to  him,  which  he  was  forced 
to  submit  to  by  the  iniquity  of  the  times,  and  his 
engagements  with  Pompey  and  Caesar,  as  he  often 
laments  to  his  friends  in  a  very  passionate  strain  : 
"  1  am  afflicted,"  says  he,  "  my  dearest  brother,  I 
''  am  afflicted,  that  there  is  no  republick,  no  jus- 
"  tice  in  trials ;  that  this  season  of  my  life,  which 


*  Ait  etiara  mens  familiaris,  eandem  causain  Alexandrinis  fuisse, 
cur  laudarent  Gabinium,  quae  inihi  fuit,  cur  eundem  defeiiderem. 
Mihi,  C.  Merami,  causa  defendendi  Gabinii  fuit  recouciliatio  gratiae. 
Neque  vero  me  poonitet,  viortalcs  inhnicitias,  sempUcriias  amiciti- 
as  habere!  Nam  si  me  invtium  putas,  ne  Cn.  Pompeii  animum  offen- 
derem,  defendisse  causam,  et  ilium  ct  me  vehementer  ignoras.  Ne- 
que eoim  Pompeius  me  sua  causa  quidquam  facere  voluisset  invitura  ; 
neque  ego,  cui  omuium  civium  libeitas  carissima  luisset,  meam  pro- 
jecissem.     Pro.  C.  Habir.  Post.  12. 

f  Sed  hujusce  2;eneris  hnmanitas  etiam  in  M.  Cicerone  praecipua 
apparuit,  etc. '  Val.  Max.  1.  2. 


132  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  ,699.    Cic.  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcber. 

''  ought  to  flourish  in  the  authority  of  the  sena- 
"  torian  character,  is  either  wasted  in  the  drudge- 
"  ry  of  the  bar,  or  relieved  only  by  domestick 
"  studies ;  that  what  I  have  ever  been  fond  of  from 
*'  a  boy. 

In  every  virtuous  act  and  glorious  strife 
To  shine  the  first  and  best 

"is  wholly  lost  and  gone;  that  my  enemies  are 
"  partly  not  opposed,  partly  even  defended  by  me ; 
'*  and  neither  what  I  love,  nor  what  I  hate,  left  free 
"to  me."=^ 

While  Caesar  was  engaged  in  the  British  expe- 
dition, his  daughter  Julia,  Pompey's  wife,  died  in 
child-bed  at  Rome,  after  she  was  delivered  of  a 
son,  which  died  also  soon  after  her.  Her  loss  was 
not  more  lamented  by  the  husband  and  father,  who 
both  of  them  tenderly  loved  her,  than  by  all  their 
common  friends,  and  well-wishers  to  the  publick 
peace  ;  who  considered  it  as  a  source  of  fresh  dis- 
turbance to  the  state,  from  the  ambitious  views 
and  clashiug  interests  of  the  two  chiefs  ;  whom  the 
life  of  one  so  dear,  and  the  relation  of  son  and  fa- 
iheYy  seemed  hitherto  to  have  united  by  the  ties 

*  Angor,  mi  suavissime  frater,  angor,  nuilam  esse  Remp.  nulla  ju- 
dicia,  nostruraque  hoc  tempus  aetatis,  quod  in  ilia  senatoria  auctori- 
tate  florere  debebat,  aut  forensi  labore  jactari,  aut  doinesticis  litteris 
sustentari.     Illud  vero  quod  a  puero  adaraaram, 

11.  ^.  208. 
totura  occidisse  ;  inimicos  a  me  partim  non  oppugnatos ;  partim  etiam 
esse  defensos ;  meum  non  modo  animuna,  sed  ne  odium  quidem  esse 
liberum.    Ad  Quint.  3.  5, 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  133 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cic.  53.    Ckns.'-L.  Domidus  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Fulcher. 


both  of  duty  and  affection.*     Caesar  is  said  to  have 
borne  the  news  of  her  death  with  an   uncommon 
firmness  :t    it  is   certain,   that  she  had  lived  lon^ 
enough  to  serve  all  the  ends  which  he  proposed 
from  that  alliance,  and  to  procure  for  him  every 
thing  that  Pompey's  power  could  give :  for  while 
Pompey,  forgetful  of  his  honour  and  interest,  was 
spending  his  time  ingloriously  at  home,  in  the  ca- 
resses of  a  young  wife,  and  the  delights  of  Italy  ; 
and,  as  if  he  had  been  only  Caesar's  agent,  was 
continually  decreeing  fresh  honours,  troops,  and 
money  to   him  ;  Caesar   was   pursuing  the  direct 
road  to  empire ;  training  his  legions  in  all  the  toils 
and  discipline  of  a  bloody  war;  himself  always  at 
their  head,  animating  them  by  his   courage,  and 
rewardino^  them  by  his  bounty  ;  till,  from  a  great 
and  wealthy  province,  having  raised  money  enough 
to  corrupt,  and  an  army  able  to  conquer  all  who 
could  oppose  him,  he  seemed  to  want  nothing  for 
the  execution  of  his  vast  designs,  but  a  pretext  to 
break  with  Pompey  ;  which,  as  all  wise  men  fore- 
saw, could  not  long  be  wanted,   when  Julia,  the 
cement  of  their  union,  was  removed.     For  though 
the  power  of  the  triumvirate  had  given  a  dange- 
rous blow  to  the  liberty  of  Rome,  yet  the  jealou- 
sies  and   separate  interests  of  the  chiefs  obliged 
them  to  manage  it  with  some  decency ;  and  to  ex- 
tend it  but  rarely   beyond  the  forms  of  the  consti- 
tution ;  but  whenever  that  league  should  happen 


*  Cum  medium  jam,  ex  invidia  potentiae  male  coha^rentis  inter 
Cn.  Porapeium  et  C.  Caesarem,  concoidiae  pigniis.  Julia  uxor  .Magni 
decessit.  Filius  quoque  parvus,  Julia  natus,  intra  breve  spatium 
obiit.     Veil.  Pat.  2.  47.     Val.  M.  4.  €. 

t  Caesar — cum  audivit  decessisse  filiam — inter  tertium  diem  im- 
peratoria  obiit  munera.     Senec.  Consol.  ad  Helv.  p.  116. 


134  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  699.    Cic  53.    Coss.— D.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

to  be  dissolved,  which  had  made  them  ah'eady  too 
great  for  private  subjects,  the  next  contest  of 
course  must  be  for  dominion,  and  the  single  maste- 
ry of  the  empire. 

On  the  second  of  November,  C.  Pontinius  tri- 
umphed over  the  Allobroges :  he  had  been  prae- 
tor, when  Cicero  was  consul ;  and,  at  the  end  of 
his  magistracy,  obtained  the  government  of  that 
part  of  Gaul,  which,  having  been  tampering  with 
Catiline  in  his  conspiracy,  broke  out  soon  after- 
wards into  open  rebellion,  but  was  reduced  by 
the  vigour  of  this  general.  For  this  service  he 
demanded  a  triumph,  but  met  with  great  opposi- 
tion, which  he  surmounted  with  incredible  pa- 
tience :  for  he  persevered  in  his  suit  for  five  years 
successively  ;  residing  all  that  while,  according  to 
custom,  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  till  he  gained 
his  point  at  last  by  a  kind  of  violence.  Cicero 
was  his  friend,  and  continued  in  Rome  on  purpose 
to  assist  him ;  and  the  consul  Appius  served  him 
with  all  his  power ;  but  Cato  protested,  that  Pon- 
tinius should  never  triumph  while  he  lived  ; 
"  though  tiris,"  says  Cicero,  "  like  many  of  his  other 
"threats,  will  end  at  last  in  nothing."  But  the 
praetor  Galba,  who  had  been  his  lieutenant,  hav- 
ing procured  by  stratagem  an  act  of  the  people  in 
his  favour,  he  entered  the  city  in  his  triumphal 
chariot,  where  he  was  so  rudely  received  and  op- 
posed in  his  passage  through  the  streets,  that  he 
was  forced  to  make  his  way  with  his  sword,  and  the 
slaughter  of  many  of  his  adversaries.^ 

*  Ea  re  nou  longius,  quam  vellem,  quod  Pontinio  ad  triuniphum 
volebain  adesse  :  etenim  erit  nescio  quid  negotioli,  etc.  Ad  Quint.  3«  5. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  135 

A.  Urb.  699.     Cic  53.    Coss.— L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher, 


In  the  end  of  the  year,  Cicero  consented  to  be 
one  of  Pompey's  lieutenants  in  Spain  ;  which  he 
be2;an  to  think  convenient  to  the  present  state  of 
his  affairs,  and  resolved  to  set  forward  for  that 
province,  about  the  middle  of  January  :*  but  this 
seemed  to  give  some  umbrage  to  Caesar,  who,  by 
the  help  of  Quintus,  hoped  to  disengage  him  gra- 
dually from  Pompey,  and  to  attach  him  to  him- 
self ;  and  with  that  view  had  begged  of  him  in  his 
letters,  to  continue  at  Home,t  for  the  sake  of  ser- 
ving himself  w  itli  his  authority,  in  all  affairs  which 
he  had  occasion  to  transact  there  ;  so  that  out  of 
regard  probably  to  Caesar's  uneasiness,  Cicero 
soon  changed  his  mind,  and  resigned  his  lieuten- 
ancy ;  to  which  he  seems  to  allude  in  a  letter  to 
his  brother,  where  he  says,  that  he  had  no  second 
thoughts  in  whatever  concerned  Caesar ;  that  he 
would  make  good  his  enga2;ements  to  him ;  and 
being  entered  into  his  friendship  with  judgment, 
was  now  attached  to  him  by  affection.J 

He  was  employed  at  Caesar's  desire  along  with 
Oppius,  in  settling  the  plan  of  a  most  expensive 
and  magnificent  work  which  Caesar  w^as  going  to 

Pontinius  vnlt  A.  D.  IV.  Non.  Noverab.  triiimphare.  Huic  ob- 
viam  Cato  et  Servilius  praetores  aperte,  et  Q,.  Mucins  tribuuus.  Sed 
erit  cum  Pontinio  Appius  consul.  Cato  tamen  affirinat,  se  vivo  ilium 
uon  triumphare ;  id  ego  puto,  ut  multa  ejusdera,  ad  nihil  recasurum. 
Ad  AU.  4.  16.     It.  Dio,  1.  39.  p.  120. 

*  Sed  heus  tu,  scripseramne  tibi  me  esse  legatum  Pompeio  ;  et. 
extra  urbem  quidera  lore,  ex  Id.  Jan.  visum  est  hoc  mihi  ad  multa 
quadrare.     Ad  Alt.  4.  18. 

t  Quod  mihi  tempus,  Romae  praesertira,  ut  iste  me  rogat,  mancn- 
ti,  vacuum  ostenditur  ? — Ad  Uuint.  2.  15. 

I  Ego  vero  nullas  Jivlt^ei;  <p^i'JltJki  habere  possum  in  Caesaris  rebus — 
Videor  id  judicio  facere.  Jam  enim  deheo  :  sed  tamen  amore  sum  in- 
oensus — Ad  Quint.  3,  1.  5  •''. 


136  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  699.    Cie.  53.    Coss.—L.  Domitius  Ahenobarfius.    A.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

execute  at  Rome,  out  of  the  spoils  of  Gaul ;  a  new 
forum,  with  many  orand  buildings  annexed  to  it ; 
for  the  area  of  which  alone  they  had  contracted  to 
pay  to  the  several  owners  about  five  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds ;  or  as  Suetonius  computes,  near  dou- 
ble that  sum.^     Cicero  calls  it  a  glorious  piece  of 
work,  and  says,  that  the  partitions,  or  inclosures  of 
the  Campus  Martins,  in  which  the  tribes  used  to 
vote,  were  all  to  be  made  new  of  marble,  with  a 
roof  likewise  of  the  same,  and  a  stately  portico 
carried  round  the  whole,  of  a  mile  in  circuit,  to 
which  a  publick  hall  or  town-house  was  to  be  join- 
ed.t     While  this  building  was  going  forward,  L. 
Aemilius  Paulus  was  employed  in  raising  another, 
not  much  inferiour  to  it,   at  his  own  expense :  for 
he  repaired  and  beautified  an  ancient  Basilica  in  the 
old  forum ;  and  buih  at  the  same  time  a  new  one 
with  Phrygian  columns,  which  was  called  after  his 
own  name  ;  and  is  frequently  mentioned  by  the 
later  writers,  as  a  fabrick  of  wonderful  magnifi- 
cence, computed  to  have  cost  him  three  hundred 

thousand  pounds.J 

__ 

*  Forum  de  manubiis  inchoavit ;  riijus  area  super  H.  S.  millies  con- 
stitit.     Suet.     J.  Caes.  26. 

f  Itaque  Caesar  s  amici  (me  dico  et  Oppium,  dirumparis  licet)  in 
moiiumenturn  illud,  quod  tu  tolleie  laudibus  solebas,  ut  forum  laxare- 
mus,  et  usque  ad  libertatis  atrium  explicaremus,  consuiusiuius  H.  S, 
sexcenties  :  cum  privaiis  non  poterat  transigi  minore  pecunia  Efficie- 
mus  rem  gloriosissimara.  Nam  in  Campo  iVlartio  septa  tributis  comi- 
tiis  marmorea  siimus,  et  tecla  facturi,  eaque  cingemus  excelsa  por- 
ticu,  ut  mille  passuum  couficiatur.  Simul  adjungetur  huic  operi,  villa 
eliam  publica — Ad  Att.  4.  16. 

I  Paulus  in  medio  i'oro  Basilicam  jam  paene  texuit,  iisdera  antiquis 
colunmis :  iilam  aiuem,  quam  iofavii.  facit  magnificentissimam.  Ni- 
hil gratius  illo  mouumento,  nihil  gloriosius — Ibid. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  VdJ 


A.  Urb.  700.     Cic.  54. 


The  new  tribunes  pursued  the  measures  of  their 
predecessors,  and  would  not  suffer  an  election  of 
consuls ;  so  that  when  the  new  year  came  on,  the 
republick  wanted  its  proper  head  :  in  this  case  the 
administration  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  interrex  ;  a 
provincial  magistrate,  who  must  necessarily  be  a 
patrician,  and  chosen  by  the  body  of  patricians, 
called  together  for  that  purpose  by  the  senate.* 
His  power,  however,  was  but  short  lived,  being 
transferred  every  i\Ye  days,  from  one  interrex  to 
another,  till  an  election  of  consuls  could  be  obtain- 
ed ;  but  the  tribunes,  whose  authority  was  absolute, 
while  there  were  no  consuls  to  control  them, 
continued  fierce  against  aiiy  election  at  all :  some 
were  for  reviving  the  ancient  dignity  of  military 
tribunes ;  but  that  being  unpopular,  a  more  plausi- 
ble scheme  was  taken  up  and  openly  avowed,  of 
declaring  Pompey  dictator.  This  gave  great  ap- 
prehensions to  the  city,  for  the  memory  of  Syl- 
la's  dictatorship ;  and  was  vigorously  opposed  by 
all  the  chiefs  of  the  senate,  and  especially  by  Cato  : 
Pompey  chose  to  keep  himself  out  of  sight,  and 
retired  into  the  countiy,  to  avoid  the  suspicion  of 
affecting  it.  "  The  rumour  of  a  Dictatorship, 
"  says  Cicero,  is  disagreeable  to  the  honest;  but 
"  the  other  things,  which  they  talk  of,  are  more  so 
"  to  me :  the  whole  affair  is  dreaded,  but  flags : 
"  Pompey  flatly  disclaims  it,  though  he  never  de- 
"  nicd  it  to  me  before  :  the  tribune  Hirrus  will 
"  probably  be  the  promoter  ;  good  gods  [  how  silly 
"  and  fond  of  himself  without  a  rival  ?  At  Pom- 
"  pey's  request,  I  have  deterred  Crassus  Junianus, 
"  who  pays   great  regard  to  me,  from  meddling 


"  Vid.  Ascon.  argument  in  Milon. 
VOL.    II.  1ft 


138  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54. 


"  with  it.  It  is  hard  to  know  whether  Pompey 
"  really  desires  it  or  not ;  but  if  Hirrus  stir  in  it, 
''  he  will  not  convince  us  that  he  is  averse  to  it."^ 
In  another  letter;  "  Nothing  is  yet  done  as  to  the 
"  dictatorship  ;  Pompey  is  still  absent ;  Appius  in 
"  a  great  bustle  ;  Hirrus  preparing  to  propose  it; 
"  but  several  are  named  as  ready  to  interpose  their 
"  negative  :  the  people  do  not  trouble  their  heads 
"  about  it ;  the  chiefs  are  against  it ;  I  keep  myself 
"  quiet."t  Cicero's  friend  Milo  was  irresolute 
how  to  act  on  this  occasion ;  he  was  forming  an 
interest  for  the  consulship ;  and  if  he  declared 
against  a  dictatorship,  was  afraid  of  making  Pom- 
pey his  enemy  ;  or  if  he  should  not  help  the  op- 
ponents, that  it  would  be  carried  by  force;  in  both 
which  cases,  his  own  pretensions  were  sure  to  be 
disappointed  :  he  was  inclined,  therefore,  to  join 
in  the  opposition,  but  so  far  only  as  to  repel  any 
violence.J 

The  tribunes  in  the  mean  time,  were  growing 
every  day  more  and  more  insolent,  and  engrossing 
all  power  to  themselves;  till.Q.  Pompeius  Rufus, 

— — 2a^ __ . 

*  Rumor  Dictatoris  injucundiis  bonis:  mihi  eliam  luagis  quae  lo- 
quuntur.  Bed  tota  res  et  tinictur  ot  relrigescit.  Poinpeius  plane 
se  negat  velle:  antea  ipse  niihi  non  negahat.  Hirrus  auctor  fore 
videtur.  O  Dii,  quara  ineptus,  et  qtiauj  se  ainans  sine  rival)  !  Cras- 
sura  JunJanum  hominem  raiiji  deditum,  per  me  deterruit.  Velit, 
nolit,  scire  difficile  est.  Hirro  tamen  agente,  nolle  se  non  probabit— 
Ad  Quint.  3.  8.  * 

f  De  Dictatore  tamc-n  actum  nihil  est.  Pompeius  abest :  Appi- 
us miscet :  Hirrus  parat  ;  mul|:i  intercessores  numerantur :  populus 
non  curat :  principes  nolunt :  ego  quiesco— Ibj  9. 

I  Hoc  horret  Milo— et  si  ille  Dictator  factus  sit,  paene  diffidit.  In- 
tercessorem  dictaturae  si  jnverit  inann  et  praesidio  suo,  Pompeium 
metuit  inimicum;  sinon  juverit,  timet,  ne  per  vim  perleratur.— lb:  8. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  139 

A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54. 

the  grandson  of  Sylla,  and  the  most  factious  es- 
pouser  of  a  dictator,  was,  by  a  resolute  decree  of 
the  senate,  committed  to  prison :  and  Pompey 
himself,  upon  his  return  to  the  city,  finding  the 
greater  and  better  part  utterly  adverse  to  his  dic- 
tatorsliip,  yielded  at  last  after  an  interregnum  of 
six  months,  that  Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus,  and  M. 
Messala,  should  be  declared  consuls.*  These 
were  agreeable  likewise  to  Caesar:  Cicero  had 
particularly  recommended  Messala  to  him  ;  of 
whom,  he  says  in  a  letter  to  his  brother ;  "  As  to 
"  your  reckoning  Messala  and  Calvinus  sure  con- 
"  suls,  you  agree  with  what  we  think  here  ;  for  I 
"  will  be  answerable  to  Caesar  for  JNIessala.t 


A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus.    M.  Valerius  Messala. 

But  after  all  this  bustle  about  a  Dictator,  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  great  reason  for  being 
much  afraid  of  it  at  this  time  :  for  the  republick  was 
in  so  great  a  disorder,  that  nothing  less  than  a  dicta- 
torial power  could  reduce  it  to  a  tolerable  state  : 
some  good  of  that  kind  might  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected from  Pompey,  without  the  fear  of  any  great 
harm,  while  there  was  so  sure  a  check  upon  him  as 
Caesar,  who,  upon  any  exorbitant  use  of  that  pow- 
er, would  have  had  the  senate,  and  all  the  better 


*  Vid.  Dio.  I.  40.  p.  141. 

t  Messalain  qiiod  certiim  consiilem  cum  Domitio  ntimeratis,  nihil  a 
nostra  opinione  dissenlitis.  Ego  IVlessalam  Cacsari  praestabo— Ad 
Quint.  3.  8. 


140  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus.    M.  Valerius  Messala. 

sort,  on  his  side,  by  the  specious  pretence  of  as- 
serting the  publick  liberty  :  Cicero  therefore  judg- 
ed rightly,  in  thinking  that  there  were  other  things 
which  might  be  apprehended,  and  seemed  likely  to 
happen,  that,  in  their  present  situation,  were  of 
more  dangerous  consequence  than  a  dictatoiship. 

There  had  scarce  been  so  long  an  interregnum 
in  Rome  since  the  expulsion  of  their  kings,  during 
which  all  publick  business,  and  especially  all  judi- 
cial proceedings,  were  wholly  interrupted ;  which 
explains  a  jocose  passage  in  one  of  Cicero's  letters 
to  Trebatius :  "  If  you  had  not  already,"  says  he, 
"  been  absent  from  Rome,  you  would  certainly 
"  have  run  away  now :  for  what  business  is  there 
"  for  a  lawyer  in  so  many  interregnums?  I  would 
"advise  all  my  clients,  if  sued  in  any  action,  to 
"  move  every  interrex  twice  for  more  time  :  do  not 
"  you  think  that  1  have  learnt  the  law  of  you  to 
"  good  purpose  ?* 

He  now  began  a  correspondence  of  letters  with 
Curio,  a  young  senator  of  distinguished  birth  and 
parts,  wliiT,  upon  his  first  entrance  into  the  forum, 
had  been  committed  to  his  care,  and  was  at  this 
time  quaestor  in  Asia.  He  was  possessed  of  a 
large  and  splendid  fortune,  by  the  late  death  of  his 
father;  so  that  Cicero,  who  knew  his  high  spirit 
and  ambition,  and  that  he  was  formed  to  do  much 
good  or  hurt  to  his  country,  was  desirous  to  engage 

*  Nisi  ante  Roma  profectus  esses,  nunc  earn  certe  relinqueres. 
Quis  enim  tot  interregnis  jiirisconsultura  desiderat  ?  Kgo  omnibus, 
unde  petitur,  hoc  consiiii  dederira,  ut  a  singulis  interregibus  binas  ad- 
vocationes  postuleut.  Satisne  tibi  videor  abs  te  jus  ^civile  didicisse  ? 
Ep.  Fara.  7.  11. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  141 


A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Doraitius  Calvinus.    ivL  Valerius  Messala. 


him  early  in  the  interests  of  the  republick,  and;  by 
instillino;  great  and  generous  sentiments,  to  inflame 
him  with  a  love  of  true  glory.  Curio  had  sent 
orders  to  his  agents  at  Rome,  to  proclaim  a  shew  of 
gladiators,  in  honour  of  his  deceased  father ;  but 
Cicero  stopped  the  declaration  of  it  for  a  while,  in 
hopes  to  dissuade  him  from  so  great  and  fruitless  an 
expense.*  He  foresaw  that  nothing  was  more  likely 
to  corrupt  his  virtue,  than  the  ruin  of  his  fortunes, 
or  to  make  him  a  dangerous  citizen,  than  prodigali- 
ty, to  which  he  whs  naturally  inclined,  and  which 
Cicero,  for  that  reason,  was  the  more  desirous  to 
check  at  his  first  setting  out :  but  all  his  endeavours 
were  to  no  purpose.  Curio  resolved  to  give  the  shew 
of  gladiators ;  and,  by  a  continual  profusion  of  his 
money,  answerable  to  this  beginning,  after  he  had 
acted  the  patriot  for  some  time  with  credit  and  ap- 
plause, was  reduced  at  last  to  the  necessity  of  selling 
himself  to  Caesar. 

There  is  but  little  of  politics  in  these  letters  be- 
sides some  general  complaints  of  the  lost  and  des- 
perate state  of  the  republick.  In  one  of  them, 
after  reckoning  up  the  various  subjects  of  epistolary 
writing :  "  Ir^hall  I  joke  with  you  then,"  says  he, 
*'  in  my  letters  ?  On  my  conscience,  there  is  not  a 
"  citizen,  I  believe,  who  can  laugh  in  these  times  : 
"  or  shall  I  write  something  serious?  But  what  can 
"  Cicero  write  seriously  to  Cui  io,  unless  it  be  on 
"  the  republick  ?  where  my  case  at  present  is  such, 
"  that   I  have  no   inclination  to  write    what  I  do 


*  Riipae  studium  iion  defuit  declarandorum  munenim  tuo  nomine  : 
sed  nee  mihi  placuit,  nee  euiquam  tuorum,  qiiMiquani  tt;  absenle  fieri, 
quodtibi,  cum  venlsses,  non  esset  integrum,  etc.     Ep.  Fam.  2.  ?,. 


142  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus.    M.  Valerius  Messala. 

"  think — ."*  In  another,  after  putting;  hioi  in  mind 
of  the  incredible  expectation  which  v\as  entertain- 
ed of  him  at  Rome :  '*  Not  that  I  am  afraid," 
says  he,  "  that  your  virtue  should  not  come  up  to  the 
"  opinion  of  the  publick,  but  rather  that  you  find 
"  nothing  worth  caring  for  at  your  return,  all  things 
"  are  so  ruined  and  oppressed :  but  I  question 
*'  whether  it  be  prudent  to  say  so  much — It  is  your 
"  part,  however,  whether  you  retain  any  hopes,  or 
*'  quite  despair,  to  adorn  yourself  with  all  those 
"  accomplishments  which  can  qualify  a  citizen,  in 
"  wretched  times  and  profligate  morals,  to  restore 
"  the  republick  to  its  ancient  dignity ."f 

The  first  news  from  abroad,  after  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  consuls,  was  of  the  miserable  death  of 
Crassus  and  his  son  Publius,  with  the  total  defeat 
of  his  army  by  the  Parthians.  This  was  one  of 
the  greatest  blows  that  Rome  had  ever  receiv- 
ed from  a  foreign  enemy,  and  for  which  it  was 
ever  after  meditating  revenge  :  the  Roman  wri- 
ters generally  imputed  it  to  Crassus's  contempt 
of  the  auspices,  as  some  Christians  have  since 
charged  iT  to  his  sacrilegious  violation  of  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem,  which  he  is  said  to  have 
plundered  of  two  millions,  both  of  them  with 
equal  superstition   pretending  to  unfold  the  coun- 

*  Jocerne  tecum  per  literas  ?  civem  raehercule  non  puto  esse,  qui 
temporibus  his  ridere  possit.  An  gravius  aliquid  scribam  ?  Quid  est 
quod  possit  graviter  a  Cicerone  scribi  ad  Curionera,  nisi  de  Rep.  ?  Atque 
in  hoc  genere  haec  mea  causa  es^t,  ut  neque  ea,  quae,  non  sentio,  velim 
scribere ib.  4.  4. 

t  Non  quo  verear  ne  tua  virtus  opinion!  hominura  non  respondeat  : 
sed  mehercule,  ne  cum  veneris,  non  habeas  Jam  quod  cures :  ita  sunt 
omnia  debilitata  jam  prope  etextincta,  etc.  ib.  ft. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  143 


A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.Domitius  Calviiius.     M.  Valerius  Messala. 

cils  of  heaven,  and  to  fathom  those  depths  which 
are  declared  to  be  unsearchable.^  The  chief  and 
imniediate  concern  which  the  city  felt  on  this  oc- 
casion, was  for  the  detriment  that  the  repviblick 
had  suffered,  and  the  dano;er  to  which  it  was  expos- 
ed, by  the  loss  of  so  great  an  army  ;  yet  the  princi- 
pal mischief  lay  in  what  they  did  not  at  first  re- 
gard, and  seemed  rather  to  rejoice  at,  the  loss  of 
Crassus  himself.  For  after  the  death  of  Julia,  Cras- 
sus's  authority  was  the  only  means  left  of  curbing 
the  power  of  Pompey,  and  the  ambition  of  Cae- 
sar;  being  ready  always  to  support  the  weaker, 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  stronger,  and 
keep  them  both  within  the  bounds  of  a  decent  re- 
spect to  the  laws ;  but  this  check  being  now  taken 
away,  and  the  power  of  the  empire  thrown,  as  a 
kind  of  prize,  between  two,  it  gave  a  new  turn  to 
their  several  pretensions,  and  created  a  fresh  com- 
petition for  the  larger  share,  which,  as  the  event 
afterwards  shewed,  must  necessarily  end  in  the  sub- 
version of  the  whole. 

Publius  Crassus,  who  perished  with  his  father  in 
this  fatal  expedition,  was  a  youth  of  an  amiable 
character ;  educated  with  the  strictest  care,  and 
perfectly  instructed  in  all  the  liberal  studies ;  he 
had  a  ready  wit  and  easy  language  ;  was  grave 
without  arrogance,  modest  without  negligence, 
adorned  with  all  the  accomplishments  proper  to 
form  a  principal  citizen  and  leader  of  the  repub- 


*  M.  Crasso  quid  acciderit,  videinus  dirarum  obnuntiatione  neglec- 
ta.     [De  Dio.  1.  16.] 

Being  for  bis  impious  sacrilege  at  Jerusalem  justly  destined  to  de- 
struction, God  did  cast  infatuations  into  all  bis  councils,  for  tbe  lead- 
ing him  thereto Prideaux.  Connect.  Par.  2.  p.  362 


144  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vi, 

A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  S4.    Coss.— Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus.    M.  Valerius  Messala. 

lick  :  by  the  force  of  his  own  judgment  he  had 
devoted  himself  very  early  to  the  observance  and 
imitation  of  Cicero,  whom  he  perpetually  attend- 
ed and  reverenced  with  a  kind  of  filial  piety. — 
Cicero  conceived  a  mutual  affection  for  him,  and 
observing  his  eager  thirst  of  glory,  was  constantly 
instilling  into  him  the  true  notion  of  it ;  and  ex- 
horting him  to  pursue  that  sure  path  to  it,  which 
his  ancestors  had  left  beaten  and  traced  out  to  him, 
through  the  gradual  ascent  of  civil  honours.  But^ 
by  serving  under  Caesar  in  the  Gallick  wars,  he 
had  learnt,  as  he  fancied,  a  shorter  way  to  fame 
and  power,  than  what  Cicero  had  been  inculcat- 
ing ;  and  having  signalized  himself  in  a  campaign 
or  two  as  a  soldier,  was  in  too  much  haste  to 
be  a  general ;  when  Caesar  sent  him  at  the  head 
of  a  thousand  horse,  to  the  assistance  of  his  father 
in  the  Parthian  war.  Here  the  vigour  of  his 
youth  and  courage  carried  him  on  so  far,  in  the 
pursuit  of  an  enemy,  whose  chief  art  of  conquest 
consisted  in  flying,  that  he  had  no  way  left  to  es- 
cape, but  what  his  high  spirit  disdained,  by  the  de- 
sertion of  his  troops  and  a  precipitate  flight ;  so  that, 
finding  FiTmself  opposed  with  numbers,  cruelly 
wounded,  and  in  danger  of  falling  alive  into  the 
hands  of  the  Parthians^  he  chose  to  die  by  the  sword 
of  his  armour-bearer.  Thus  while  he  aspired,  as 
Cicero  says,  to  the  fame  of  another  Cyrus  or  Al- 
exander, he  fell  short  of  that  glory  which  many 
of  his  predecessors  had  reaped,  from  a  succession 
of  honours,  conferred  by  their  country,  as  the  re- 
ward of  their  services.* 


*  Hoc  magis  sura  Public  deditus,  quod  me  quanquam  a  pueritia 
seuf.per,  taraen  hoc  tempore  maxime,  sicut  alterum  parentem  et  oh- 
servat  et  diligit.     [Ep.  Fam.  5.  8.] 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  145 

A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Calvinus.    M.    Valerius  Messala. 

By  the  death  of  young  Crassus,  a  place  became 
vacant  in  the  college  of  Augurs,  for  which  Cicero 
declared  himself  a  candidate :  nor  was  any  one  so 
hardy  as  to  appear  against  him,  except  Hirrus, 
the  tribune,  who,  trusting  to  the  popularity  of  his 
office  and  Pompey's  favour,  had  the  vanity  to 
pretend  to  it :  but  a  competition  so  unequal  fur- 
nished matter  of  raillery  only  to  Cicero  ;  who  was 
chosen  without  any  difficulty  or  struggle,  with 
the  unanimous  approbation  of  the  whole  body.* 
This  college,  from  the  last  regulation  of  it  by 
Sylla,  consisted  of  fifteen,  who  were  all  persons 
of  the  first  distinction  in  Rome ;  it  was  a  priest^ 
hood  for  life,  of  a  character  indelible  ;  which  no 
crime  or  forfeiture  could  efface :  the  priests  of  all 
kinds  were  originally  chosen  by  their  colleges ; 
till  Domitius,  a  tribune,  about  fifty  years  before, 
transferred  the  choice  of  them  to  the  people; 
whose  authority  was  held  to  be  supreme  in  sacred,  as 
w^ell  as  civil  affairs.f  This  act  was  reversed  by 
Sylla,  and  the  ancient  right  restored  to  the  colle- 
ges ;  but  Labienus,  when  tribune,  in  Cicero's  con- 
sulship, recalled  the  law  of  Domitius,  to  facilitate 

p.  Crassnra  ex  omni  nobilitate  adolescentem  dilexi  pluriraum,  etc. 
[ib.  13.  16.] 

Cum  P.  Crasso,  cum  initio  aetatis  ad  amicitiam  se  meam  contulis- 
set,  saepe  egisse  me  arbitror,  cum  enm  veliementissime  hortarer,  ut 
earn  laudis  viam  rectissimam  esse  dliceret,  quam  majores  ejus  ei  tri- 
tam  reliquissent.  Erat  enim  cum  in<titutus  optime,  tum  plane  per- 
fectequeeruditiis.  Ineratque  et  ingen  urn  satis  acre,  et  orationis  non 
inelegans  xnpia  :  praetereaque  sine  arrogant  la  gravis  esse  videbatur, 
et  sine  segnitic  verecundus,  etc.  Vid.  Brut.  p.  407.  It.  Plut.  Id 
Crass. 

*  Quomodo  Hirrum  putas  Auguratus  tui  corapetitorem — Ep.  Fam. 
8.3. 

f  Atque  hoc  idem  de  caeteris  Sacerdotiis  Cn.  Domitius  tribunns  PI. 
f.ulit,  etc.     De  Leg.  Ag.  2.  7. 

VOL.    IT.  1^ 


146  THE  LIFE    OF  sect.  vr« 

A.  Urb.  700,  Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus.    M.  Valerius  Messala. 

Caesar's  advancement  to  the  high-priesthood:  it 
was  necessary,  however,  that  every  candidate 
should  be  nominated  to  the  people  by  two  augurs, 
who  gave  a  solemn  testimony  upon  oath  of  his  dig- 
nity and  fitness  for  the  office :  this  was  done  in 
Cicero's  case  by  Pompey  and  Hortensius,  the  two 
most  eminent  members  of  the  college  ;  and  after 
the  election,  he  was  installed  with  all  the  usual 
formalities  by  Hortensius.^ 

As  in  the  last  year,  so  in  this,  the  factions  of  the 
city  prevented  the  choice  of  consuls :  the  candi- 
dates, T.  Annius  Milo,  Q,  Metellus  Scipio,  and 
P.  Plautius  Hypsaeus,  pushed  on  their  several  in- 
terests with  such  open  violence  and  bribery,  as  if 
the  consulship  was  to  be  carried  only  by  money  or 
arms.t  Clodius  was  putting  in  at  the  same  time 
for  the  praetorship,  and  employing  all  his  credit 
and  interest  to  disappoint  Milo,  by  whose  obtain- 
ing  fhe  consulship,  he  was  sure  to  be  eclipsed  and 
controlled  in  the  exercise  of  his  subordinate  ma= 
gistracy.J  Pompey  was  wholly  averse  to  Milo, 
who  did  not  pay  him  that  court  which  he  expected^ 
but  seemed  to  affect  an  independency,  and  to  trust 
to  his  own  strength,  while  the  other  two  competi- 
tors were  wholly  at  his  devotion:  Hypsaeus  had 
been  his  quaestor,  and  always  his  creature  ;  and  he 

*  Quo  eninti  tempore  me  Augurem  a  toto  eollegio  expetitura  Cn. 
Pompeius  et  Q.  Hortensius  nominaverunt ;  neque  enim  licebat  a 
pluribus  nominari Philip.  2.  2. 

Cooptatura  me  ab  eo  in  collegium  recordabar,  in  quo  juratns  judici- 
»ni  dignitatis  meae  feeerat :  et  inauguratum  ab  eodem,  ex  quo,  au- 
gurum  iustitutis  in  parentis  eura  loco  colere  debebara.    Brut,  init 

t  Plutar.  in  Cato. 

I  Occurrebat  ei,  niancam  ac  debileiD  Praeturara  suam  futuram  con- 
sule  Miione— Pro  Milon.  9, 


^ECT.   VI.  CICERO.  147 

A.  Urb.  700.    Cic  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Domiiius  Calvinus.    M.  Valerius  Messahu 

designed  to  make  Scipio  his  father-in-law,  by  mar- 
rying his  daughter  Cornelia,  a  lady  of  celebrated 
accomplishments,  the  widow  of  young  Crassus. 

Cicero,  on  the  other  hand,  served  Milo  to  Ihe 
utmost  of  his  power,  and  ardently  wished  his  suc- 
cess :  this  he  owed  to  Milo's  constant  attachment  to 
him,  which  at  all  hazaids  he  now  resolved  to  repay : 
the  affair,  however,  was  likely  to  give  him  much 
trouble,  as  well  from  the  difficulty  of  the  opposi- 
tion, as  from  Milo's  own  conduct,  and  unbounded 
prodigality,  which  threatened  the  ruin  of  all  his 
fortunes :  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  who  was  still 
with  Caesar,  he  says,  **  nothing  can  be  more  wretch- 
"  ed  than  these  men  and  these  times  :  wherefore, 
"  since  no  pleasure  can  now  be  had  from  the  re- 
"  publick,  I  know  not  why  I  should  make  myself 
"  uneasy  :  books,  study,  quiet,  my  country  houses, 
"  and  above  all,  my  children,  are  my  sole  delight : 
"  Milo  is  my  only  trouble  :  I  wish  his  consulship 
"  may  put  an  end  to  it ;  in  which  I  will  not  take 
"  less  pains,  than  I  did  in  my  own ;  and  you  will 
"  assist  us  there  also,  as  you  now  do  :  all  things 
"  stand  well  with  him,  unless  some  violence  de- 
"  feat  us :  I  am  afraid  only,  how  his  money  will 
"  hold  out :  for  he  is  mad  beyond  all  bounds  in  the 
"  magnificence  of  his  shews,  which  he  is  now  pre- 
"  paring  at  the  expense  of  250,000/.  but  it  shall  be 
"  my  care  to  check  his  inconsiderateness  in  this  one 
"  article,  as  far  as  I  am  able,  &c/'* 


*  Itaque  ex  Rep.  quoniam  nihil  jam  voluptatis  capi  potest ;  cur  sto- 
.macher,  iiesclo.  Iviterae  me  el  studia  nostra,  et  otium,  viilacqiie  de- 
Jectant,  maximeque  piieri  nostri.  Angit  unus  Milo.  Sed  velim  lincm 
afferat  cousulatus  :  in  quo  cnitar  non  minus  quam  sum  enisus  in  nostro  : 
tuque  istinc,  quod  facis,  adjuvabis.  De  quo  caetera  (nisi  plane  vis  eri- 
puerit)  recta  sunt :  de  re  t'amiliari  timco. 


•   148  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  vi 

'  A.  Urb.  700.    Cic.  54.    Coss.— Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus.    M.  Valerius  Messala. 


In  the  heat  of  this  competition,  Curio  was  com- 
ing home  from  Asia,  and  expected  shortly  at 
Rome ;  whence  Cicero  sent  an  express  to  meet 
him  on  the  road,  or  at  his  landing  in  Italy,  with  a 
most  earnest  and  pressing  letter  to  engage  him  to 
Milo's  interest. 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cic  S5. 

"  M.  T.  Cicero,  to  C.  Curio. 

••'  Before  we  had  yet  heard  of  your  comins;  to- 
"  wards  Italy,  I  sent  away  S.  Villius,  Milo's  frie  nd, 
"  with  this  letter  to  you  :  but  when  your  arrival 
^*  was  supposed  to  be  near,  and  it  was  known  for 
"  certain  that  you  had  left  Asia,  and  were  upon 
"  the  road  to  Rome,  the  importance  of  the  subject 
"  left  no  room  to  fear  that  we  should  be  thouo;ht  to 
"  send  too  hastily,  when  we  were  desirous  to  have 
"  it  delivered  to  you  as  soon  as  possible.  If  my 
*'  services  to  you.  Curio,  were  really  so  great  as 
"  they  are  proclaimed  to  be  by  you,  rather  than 
"  considered  by  me,  I  should  be  more  reserved  in 
"  asking,  if  I  had  any  great  favour  to  beg  of  you : 
*^  for  it  goes  hard  with  a  modest  man,  to  ask  any 

O   /«  fJI.AiVilli.1  OVU,  6T'  AViKJeet — 

Qui  ludos  H.  S.  CCC.  comparei     Cujus  in  hoc  iino  inconsiderantiam 
et  ego  sustinebo,  ut  potero — Ad  Quint.  3.  9. 

Cicero  had  great  reason  for  the  apprehensions  which  he  expresses 
on  account  of  Milo's  extravagance  :  tor  Milo  had  already  wasted  three 
estates  in  giving  plays  and  shews  to  the  people  ;  and  when  he  went 
soon  after  into  exile,  was  found  to  owe  still  above  half  a  raillion  of  our 
money.    Plin.  1,  36.  15.     Ascon.  Argum.  in  JVlilon. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  149 

A.   Urb.  701.    Cic  55. 


''  thing  considerable  of  one  whom  he  takes  to  be 
"  obliged  to  him  ;  lest  he  be  thoui^lit  to  demand, 
"  rather  than  to  ask  ;  and  to  look  upon  it  as  a  debt, 
*'  not  as  a  kindness.  But  since  your  services  to  me, 
"  so  eminently  displayed  in  my  late  troubles,  are 
''  known  to  all  to  be  the  greatest ;  and  it  is  the  part 
"  of  an  ingenuous  mind,  to  wish  to  be  more  oblig- 
''  ed  to  those  to  whom  we  are  already  much  oblig- 
*'  ed  ;  I  made  no  scruple  to  beg  of  you,  i)y  letter, 
*'  what  of  all  things  is  the  most  important  and  ne- 
*'  cessary  to  me.  For  I  am  not  afraid,  lest  I  should 
"not  be  able  to  sustain  the  weight  of  all  your  fa- 
*'  vours,  though  ever  so  numerous  ;  being  confident, 
"  that  there  is  none  so  great,  which  my  mind  is  not 
"  able,  both  fully  to  contain,  and  amply  to  requite 
"  and  illustrate.  I  have  placed  all  my  studies, 
"  pains,  care,  industry,  thoughts,  and  in  short,  my 
"very  soul,  on  Milo's  consulship  ;  and  have  resolv- 
"  ed  with  myself  to  expect  from  it,  not  only  the  com- 
"  mon  fruit  of  duty,  but  the  praise  even  of  piety  : 
"  nor  was  any  man,  1  believe,  ever  so  solicitous 
"  for  his  own  safety  and  fortunes,  as  I  am  foi*  his 
"  honour ;  on  which  I  have  fixed  all  my  views  and 
"  hopes.  You,  1  perceive,  can  be  of  such  service 
"  to  him,  if  you  please,  that  Ave  shall  have  no  occa- 
"  sion  for  any  thing  farther.  We  have  already  with 
"  us  the  good  wishes  of  all  the  honest,  engaged  to 
"  him  by  his  tribunate ;  and,  as  you  will  imagine 
"  also,  I  hope,  by  his  attachment  to  me  :  of  the  po- 
"  pulace  and  the  multitude,  by  the  magnificence  of 
"  his  shews  and  the  generosity  of  his  nature  ;  of  the 
*'  youth  and  men  of  interest,  by  his  own  peculiar 
"  credit  or  diligence  among  that  sort :  he  has  all  my 
"  assistance,  likewise,  which  tliough  of  little  weight, 
''yet  being  allowed  by  all  to  be  just  and  due  to 


no  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  roi.    Cic.  55. 

*'  him,  may  perhaps  be  of  some  influence.     What 
"  we  want,  is  a  captain  and  leader,  or  a  pilot,  as  it 
"  were,  of  all  those  winds  ;  and  were  we  to  choose 
"  one  out  of  ihe  whole  city,  we  could  not  find  a 
"  man  so  fit  for  the  purpose  as  you.     Wherefore, 
*'  if  from  all  the  pains,  which  I  am  now  taking  for 
"  Milo,  you  can  believe  me  to  be  mindful  of  bene- 
"  fits  ;  if  grateful ;    if  a  good  man ;  if  worthy  in 
*'  short  of  your  kindness ;  I  beg  of  you  to  relieve  my 
"  present  solicitude,  and  lend  your  helping  hand  to 
^'  my  praise ;  or,  to  speak  more  truly,  to  my  safe- 
"  ty.      As  to  T.  Annius  himself,  I  promise  you, 
"  if  you  embrace  him,  that  you  will  not  find  a  man 
*'  of  a  greater  mind,  gravity,  constancy,  or  of  greater 
*'  affection  to  you  :  and  as  for  myself,  you  will  add 
"  such  a  lustre  and  fresh  dignity  to  me,  that  I  shall 
^'  readily  own  you  to  have  sheAvn  the  same  zeal  for 
"  my  honour,  which  you  exerted  before  for  my 
*'  preservation.      If  I  was  not  sure,  from  what  I 
*'  have  already  said,  that  you  would  see  how  much 
*'  I  take  my  duty  to  be  interested  in  this  affair,  and 
*'  how  much  it  concerns  me,  not  only  to  struggle, 
^*  but  even  to  fisht  for  Milo's  success,   I   should 
^*  press  you  still  farther ;  but  I  now  recommend 
*'  and  throw  the  whole  cause,  and  myself  also  with 
*'  it,  into  your  hands ;  and  beg  of  you,  to  assure 
"  yourself  of  this  one  thing ;  that  if  1  obtain  this 
*'  favour  from  you,  I  shall  be  more  indebted  almost 
"to  you,  than  even  to   Milo  himself;  since  my 
"  safety,  in  which  I  was  principally  assisted  by  him, 
"  was  not  so  dear,  as  the  piety  of  shewing  my  gra- 
"  titude  will  be  agreeable  to  me  ;  which  I  am  per- 
"  suaded  I  shall  be  able  to  effect  by  your  assis- 
*'  tance.     Adieu."=^ 

*  Ep.  Fara.  2.  6. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  151 

A.  Urb.  701.     Cic.  55. 

The  Senate  and  the  better  sort  were  generally 
in  Milo's  interest :  but  three  of  the  tribunes  were 
violent  against  him,  Q..  Pompeius  Rufus,  Muna- 
tius  Plancus  Bursa,  and  Sallust  the  historian  ;  the 
other  seven  were  his  fast  friends,  but  above  all  M. 
Caelius,  who,  out  of  regard  to  Cicero,  served  him 
with  a  particular  zeal.  But  while  all  things  were 
proceeding  very  prosperously  in  his  favour,  and 
nothing  seemed  wanting  to  crown  his  success,  but 
to  bring  on  the  elect ion,^  which  his  adversaries,  for 
that  reason,  were  labouring  to  keep  back  ;  all  his 
hopes  and  fortunes  were  blasted  at  once,  by  an  un- 
happy rencounter  with  his  old  enemy  Clodius,  in 
which  Clodius  was  killed  by  his  servants  and  by  his 
command. 

Their  meeting  was  wholly  accidental,  on  the 
Appian  road,  not  far  from  the  city;  Clodius  com- 
ing home  from  the  country  towards  Rome ;  Milo 
going  out  about  three  in  the  afternoon ;  the  first 
on  horseback,  with  three  companions,  and  thirty 
servants  well  armed  ;  the  latter  in  a  chariot,  with 
his  wife  and  one  friend,  but  with  a  much  greater 
retinue,  and  among  them  some  gladiators. — The 
servants  on  both  sides  began  presently  to  insult 
each  other;  when  Clodius,  turning  briskly  to  some 
of  Milo's  men,  who  were  nearest  to  him,  and  threat- 
ening them  with  his  usual  fierceness,  received  a 
wound  in  his  shoulder  from  one  of  the  gladiators  ; 
and,  after  receivin:^  several  more  in  the  general 
fray,  which  instantly  ensued,  finding  his  life  in  dan- 
ger, was  forced  to  liy  for  shelter  into  a  neighbour- 
ing tavern.  Milo,  heated  by  this  success,  and  the 
thoughts  of  revenge,  and  reflecting  that  he  had 
already  done  enough,  to  give  hi«  enemy  a  crrrat 


152  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,    vi 

A.  Urb.  701.    Cic.  SS. 


advantatre  a2;ainst  him,  if  he  was  Jeft  alive  to  pur- 
sue it,  resolved,  whatever  was  the  consequence,  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  destroying;  him,  and  so  order- 
ed Ihe  house  to  be  stormed,  and  Clodius  to  be 
drasjged  out  and  murdered.  The  master  of  the  tav- 
ern was  likewise  killed,  with  eleven  of  Clodius's 
servants,  while  the  rest  saved  themselves  b\^  fli^jht : 
so  that  Clodius's  body  was  left  in  the  road,  where 
it  fell,  till  S.  Tedius,  a  senator,  happenino;  to  come 
bv,  took  it  up  into  his  chaise,  and  brou.ojht  it  with 
him  to  Rome  ;  where  it  was  exposed  in  that  con- 
dition, all  covered  with  blood  and  wounds,  to  the 
view  of  the  populace,  who  flocked  about  it  in 
crowds  to  lament  the  miserable  fate  of  their  lea- 
der. The  next  day,  the  mob,  headed  by  S.  Clo- 
dius, a  kinsman  of  the  deceased,  and  one  of  his 
chief  incendiaries,  carried  the  body  naked,  so  as 
all  the  wounds  might  be  seen,  into  the  forum,  and 
placed  it  in  the  rostra ;  where  the  three  tribunes, 
Milo's  enemies,  were  prepared  to  harangue  upon 
it  in  a  style  suited  to  the  lamentable  occasion  ;  by 
which  they  inflamed  their  mercenaries  to  such  a 
height  o^fury,  that,  snatching  up  the  body,  they 
ran  away  with  it  into  the  senate-house,  and  tearing 
up  the  benches,  tables,  and  every  thing  combusti- 
ble, dressed  up  a  funeral  pile  upon  the  spot,  and, 
together  with  the  body,  burnt  the  house  itself, 
with  a  basilica  also,  or  publick  hall,  adjoining,  call- 
ed the  Porcian  ;  and,  in  the  same  fit  of  madness, 
proceeded  to  storm  the  house  of  Milo,  and  of  M. 
Lepidus,  the  interrex,  but  were  repulsed  in  both 
attacks  with  some  loss.'^ 


*  Q.ijoiiq^-a.'n  re  vera,  fuerai  pui^na  fortuita.     Qiiintil.  I,  6.  c.  5. 

'EATTJcrstc   p*ov    Tsy  <povou    riKiv%(rctvioi    olvtou   >|    tow   n-^a.v/Lutloc  H    Treaty lymle 
A^Swi7^*t.     Dio.  1.  40.  p.  143. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  153 


A.  Urb   701.    Cic  55. 


These  extrava2;ancies  raised  great  indiirnation  in 
the  city ;  and  gave  a  turn  in  favour  of  Milo  ;  who, 
looking  upon  himself  as  undone,  was  meditating 
nothing  before,  but  a  voluntaiy  exile:  but  now 
taking  courage,  he  ventured  to  appear  in  public k, 
and  was  introduced  into  the  rostra  by  Caelius ; 
where  he  made  his  defence  to  the  people  ;  and  to 
mitigate  their  resentment  distributed  through  all 
the  tribes,  above  three  pounds  a  man,  to  every 
poor  citizen.  But  all  his  pains  and  expense  were 
to  little  purpose  ;  for  the  three  tribunes  employed 
all  the  arts  of  party  and  faction  to  keep  up  the  ill 
humour  of  the  populace ;  and  what  w^as  more  fa- 
tal, Pompey  would  not  be  brought  into  any  mea- 
sures of  accommodating  the  matter ;  so  that  the 
tumults  still  increasing,  the  senate  passed  a  decree, 
"  that  'the  interrex,  assisted  by  the  tribunes  and 
"  Pompey,  should  take  care,  that  the  republick  re- 
"  ceive  no  detriment;  and  that  Pompey,  in  parti- 
'*  cular,  should  raise  a  body  of  troops  for  the  com- 
"  mon  security  ;"  which  he  presently  drew  together 
from  all  parts  of  Italy.  In  this  confusion,  the  ru- 
mour of  a  Dictator  Avas  again  industriously  reviv- 
ed, and  gave  a  fresh  alarm  to  the  senate ;  who,  to 
avoid  the  greater  evil,  resolved  presently  to  create 
Pompey  the  single  consul !  so  that  the  interrex, 
Servius  Sulpicius,  declared  his  election  according- 
ly, after  an  interregnum  of  near  two  months. "* 

Milo,  ut  cognovit  vulneratiim  Clodiiim,  cum  sibi  periculosiiis  illud 
etiam,  viro  eo.  fiiturum  iiitelligeret,  occiso  autem  magnum  solatium 
esset  habitiirus,  etiam  si  snbennda  poena  esset,  extnrbari  tabernara 
jussit. — Ita  Clodius  latens  cxtractns  est,  multisque  vulueribus  cod- 
fectus,  etc.     Vid.  Ascouii  Argiim.  In  Milon. 

*  Vid.  Dio.  ibid,  et  Ascon.  Argnm. 


VOL.  ir.  20 


154  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  701,    Cic.  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Porapeius  Magnus  III.    Sine  Collega. 

PoMPEY  applied  himself  im mediately  to  calm 
the  publick  disorders,  and  published  several  new 
laws,  prepared  by  him  for  that  purpose :  one  of 
them  was  to  appoint  a  special  commission,  to  en- 
quire into  Clodius's  death,  the  burninof  of  the  se- 
nate-house, and  the  attack  on  M.  Lepidus  ;  and  to 
appoint  an  extraordinary  judge,  of  consular  rank, 
to  preside  in  it :  a  second  was,  against  bribery  and 
corruption  in  elections,  with  the  inflictions  of  new 
and  severer  penalties.  By  these  laws,  the  method 
of  trials  was  altered,  and  the  leno^th  of  them  li- 
mited :  three  days  were  allowed  for  the  examina- 
tion of  witnesses,  and  the  fourth  for  the  sentence  ; 
on  which  the  accuser  was  to  have  two  hours  only 
to  enforce  the  charge ;  the  criminal  three,  for  his 
defence  :^  which  regulation  Tacitus  seems  to  con- 
sider as  the  first  step  towards  the  ruin  of  the  Ro- 
man eloquence ;  by  imposing  reins,  as  it  were, 
upon  its  free  and  ancient  course.f  Caelius  op- 
posed his  negative  to  these  laws,  as  being  rather 
privileges,  than  laws,  and  provided  particularly 
against  Milo  :  but  he  was  soon  obliged  to  with- 
draw it,  upon  Pompey's  declaring,  that  he  would 
support  1:faem  by  force  of  arms.  The  three  tri- 
bunes, all  the  while,  were  perpetually  haranguing, 
and  terrifying  the  city  with  forged  stories,  of 
magazines  of  arms  prepared  by  Milo,  for  massa- 
creing  his  enemies,  and  burning  the  city  ;  and  pro- 
duced their  creatures  in  the  rostra,  to  vouch  the 
truth  of  them  to  the  people :  they  charged  him 
particularly,  with  a  design  against  Pompey's  life  ; 
and  brought  one  Licinius,  a  killer  of  the  victims 

*  Dio  et  Ascon.  Argum. 

t  Primus  tertio  consulatu  Cn.  Pompeins  adstrinxit,  imposuitque  ve~ 
iuti  fraenos  eloquentiae,  etc.  Dialog,  de  Orator.  38 


«EtT.  VI.  CICERO.  155 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cic,  55.    Coss.—Cn.  Pompeius  Magiius  III.  Sine  CoUega. 

for  sacrifice,  to  declare  that  Milo's  servants  had 
confessed  it  to  him  in  their  cups,  and  then  en- 
deavoured to  kill  him  lest  he  should  discover  it ; 
and  to  make  his  story  the  more  credible,  shewed 
a  slight  wound  in  his  side,  made  by  himself, 
which  he  affirmed  to  have  been  given  by  the  stroke 
of  a  gladiator.  Pompey  himself  confirmed  this 
fact,  and  laid  an  account  of  it  before  the  senate ; 
and,  by  doubling  his  guard,  affected  to  intimate 
a  real  apprehension  of  danger.^  Nor  were  they 
less  industrious  to  raise  a  clamour  against  Cicero  ; 
and,  in  order  to  deter  him  from  pleading  Milo's 
cause,  threatened  him  also  with  trials  and  prose- 
cutions, giving  it  out,  every  where,  that  Clodius 
was  killed  indeed  by  the  hand  of  Milo,  but  by  the 
advice  and  contrivance  of  a  greater  man.f  Yet 
such  was  his  constancy  to  his  friends,  says  Asconius, 
that  neither  the  loss  of  popular  favour,  nor  Pom- 
pey's  suspicions,  nor  his  own  danger,  nor  the  ter- 
rour  of  arms,  could  divert  him  from  the  resolution 
of  undertaking  Milo's  defence.J 

But  it  was  Pompey 's   influence  and  authority 
which   ruined  Milo.^      He  was  the  only  man  in 

*  Audiendus  Popa  Liciiiius,  nescio  quis  de  Circo  maximo,  servos 
>IiIonis  apiid  se  ebrios  factos  confessos  esse,  de  interficiendo  Cn.  Pom- 
peio  conjurasse.  De  amicoruna  sententia  rem  detert  ad  senatum.  Pro 
Milon.  24. 

I  Scitis,  judices,  fiiisse,  qui  in  hac  rogatione  siiadenda  dicerent, 
Milonis  manii  caedera  esse  factam,  consilio  vero  inajoris  aliciijus: 
videlicet  ine  latrooem  et  sicarium  abjecti  homines  describebant. — 
lb.  18. 

I  Tanta  tanien  cnnstantia  ac  fides  fnit  Ciceronis,  iit  uon  popiili  a  se 
alicnatione,  iion  Cn.  Pompeii  snspicionibiis,  non  periculi  futuri  raetu, 
nee  arinis,  quae  palam  in  Milonera  sumpta  erant,  deterreri  potuerit 
a  defensioue  ejus.     Argura.  Milon. 

$  Milonera  reum  n  )n  magis  iuvidia  facti,  quam  Pompeii  damnavit 
voluntas.     Veil.  Pat.  2.  47. 


•?  ' 


136  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vi. 

A,  Urb.  701.    Cic.  SS.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  III.    Sine  Coll^ga. 


Rome,  who  had  the  power  either  to  bring  him  to 
a  trial,  or  to  get  him  condemned  :  not  that  he  was 
concerned  for  Clodius's  death,  or  the  manner  of  it, 
but  pleased  rather,  that  the  republick  was  freed,  at 
any  rate,  from  so  pestilent  a  demagogue  ;  yet  he 
resolved  to  take  the  benefit  of  the  occasion  for 
getting  rid  of  Milo  too,  from  whose  ambition  and 
high  spirit  he  had  cause  to  apprehend  no  less 
trouble.  He  would  not  listen,  therefore,  to  any 
overtures,  which  were  made  to  him  by  Milo's 
friends :  and  when  Milo  offered  to  drop  his  suit 
for  the  consulship,  if  that  would  satisfy  him,  he  an- 
swered, "  that  he  would  not  concern  himself  with 
"any  man's  suing  or  desisting,  nor  give  any  ob- 
"  struction  to  the  power  and  inclination  of  the  Ro- 
"man  people."  He  attended  the  trial  in  person, 
with  a  strong  guard  to  preserve  peace,  and  pre- 
vent any  violence  from  either  side.  There  were 
many  clear  and  positive  proofs  produced  against 
Milo,  though  some  of  them  were  supposed  to  be 
forged  :  among  the  rest,  the  Yestal  virgins  de- 
posed, that  a  woman  unknown  came  to  them  in 
Milo's  name,  to  discharge  a  vow,  said  to  be  made 
by  him,  5n  the  account  of  Clodius's  death.^ 

When  the  examination  was  over,  Munatius  Plan- 
cus  called  the  people  together,  and  exhorted  them 
to  appear  in  a  full  body,  the  next  day,  when  judg- 
ment was  to  be  given,  and  to  declare  their  senti- 
ments in  so  publick  a  manner,  that  the  criminal 
might  not  be  suffered  to  escape :  which  Cicero 
reflects  upon  in  the  defence,  as  an  insult  on  the 

*  Vid.  Asconii  Arsum.  in  Milon. 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  157 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cic.  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  III.    Sine  Collega. 

liberty  of  the  bench.^  Early  in  the  morning,  on 
the  eleventh  of  April,  the  shops  were  all  shnt, 
and  the  whole  city  gathered  into  the  Forum, 
where  the  avenues  were  possessed  by  Pompey's 
soldiers,  and  he  himself  seated  in  a  conspicuous 
part,  to  overlook  the  whole  proceeding,  and  hin- 
der all  disturbance.  The  accusers,  were,  young 
Appius,  the  nephew  of  Clodius,  M.  Antonius,  and 
P.  Valerius,  who,  according  to  the  new  law  em- 
ployed two  hours  in  supporting  their  indictment. 
Cicero  was  the  only  advocate  on  Milo's  side  ;  but 
as  soon  as  he  rose  up  to  speak,  he  was  received 
with  so  rude  a  clamour  by  the  Clodians,  that  he 
was  much  discomposed  and  daunted  at  his  first 
setting  out ;  yet  recovered  spirit  enough  to  go 
through  his  speech  of  three  hours ;  which  was 
taken  down  in  writing,  and  published  as  it  was  de- 
livered ;  though  the  copy  of  it  now  extant  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  re-touched  and  corrected  by 
him  afterwards,  for  a  present  to  Milo  in  his  exile.f 

In  the  council  of  Milo's  friends,  several  were 
of  opinion,  that  he  should  defend  himself,  by  avow- 
ing the  death  of  Clodius  to  be  an  act  of  publick 
benefit ;  but  Cicero  thought  that  defence  too  des- 
perate, as  it  would  disgust  the  grave,  by  opening 
so  great  a  door  to  license,  and  offend  the  power- 
ful, lest  the  precedent  should  be  extended  to 
themselves.  But  young  Brutus  was  not  so  cau- 
tious, who,  in  an  oration  which  he  composed  and 

*  Ut  intelligatis  contra  liesternam  illara  concionem  licere  vobis, 
quod  sentiatis,  libere  judicare.     Pro  Mil.  26.  Vid.  Ascon.  lb. 

f  Cicero,  cum  inciperet  dicere,  acceptus  est  acclamatione  Clo- 
dianorum,  itaquc  noii  ea,  qua  solitiis  erat,  constantia  dixit.  Manet 
autem  ilia  quoque  excepta  ejus  oratio.     Ascon.  Argum. 


158  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cic.  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  III.    Sine  CoUega. 

published  afterwards,  in  vindication  of  Milo  main- 
tained the  killing  of  Clodius  to  be  right  and  just, 
and  of  great  service  to  the  republick.^^  It  was  no- 
torious, that  on  both  sides  they  had  often  threaten- 
ed death  to  each  other  :  Clodius  especially  had  de- 
clared several  times,  both  to  the  senate  and  the 
people,  that  Milo  ought  to  be  killed ;  and  that, 
if  the  consulship  could  not  be  taken  from  him, 
his  life  could  :  and  when  Favonius  asked  him 
once,  what  hopes  he  could  have  of  playing  his 
mad  pranks,  while  Milo  was  living ;  he  repli- 
ed, that  in  three  or  four  days  at  most,  he 
should  live  no  more  :  which  was  spoken  just  three 
days  before  the  fatal  rencounter,  and  attested  by 
Favonius.t  Since  Milo  then  was  charged  with 
being  the  contriver  of  their  meeting,  and  the  ag- 
gressor in  it,  and  several  testimonies  were  pro- 
duced to  that  purpose,  Cicero  chose  to  risk  the 
cause  on  that  issue  ;  in  hopes  to  persuade,  what 
seemed  to  be  the  most  probable,  that  Clodius  ac- 
tually lay  in  wait  for  Milo,  and  contrived  the  time 
and  place;  and  that  Milo's  part  was  but  a  ne- 
cessary act  of  self-defence.  -This  appeared  plau- 
sible, from  the  nature  of  their  equipage,  and  the 
circumstances  in  which  they  met ;  for  though  Mi- 
lo's company  was  the  more  numerous,  yet  it  was 
much  more  encumbered,  and  unfit  for  an  engage- 

*  Cum  quibiisdam  placuisset,  ita  dcfendi  crimen,  interfici  Clodium 
pro  Repub  fuisse,  quara  formam  M.  Brutus  secutus  est  in  ea  orati- 
one,  quara  pro  Milone  composuit,  et  edidit,  quamvis  uon  egisset. 
Ciceroni  id  non  placuit.     Ibid.  ^ 

f  Etenira  palam  dictitabat,  consulatum  Miloni  eripi  non  posse,  vi- 
tam  posse.  Significavit  hoc  saepe  in  senatu ;  dixit  in  concione. 
Quinetiara  Favonio,  quaereuti  ex  eo,  quae  spe  fureret,  iVlilone  vivo  ? 
Respondit,  triduo  ilium,  ad  summum  quatriduo,  periturum.  .Pro 
Mil.  9. 

Post  diem  tertiumgesta  res  est,  quara  dixerat.     lb.  16. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  159 

A.  Urb.  701.    Cic  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  III.    Sine  Collega. 

ment,  than  his  adversaries;  he  himself  being  in  a 
chariot  with  his  wife,  and  all  her  women  along  with 
him ;  while  Clodius  with  his  followers  was  on  horse- 
back ;  as  if  prepared  and  equipped  for  fighting.'^ 
He  did  not  preclude  himself,  however,  by  this  from 
the  other  plea,  which  he  often  takes  occasion  to  in- 
sinuate, that  if  Milo  had  really  designed  and  con- 
trived to  kill  Clodius,  he  would  have  deserved  hon- 
ours instead  of  punishment,  for  cutting  off  so  des- 
perate and  dangerous  an  enemy  to  the  peace  and 
liberty  of  Rome.f 

In  this  speech  for  Milo,  after  he  had  shewn  the 
folly  of  paying  such  a  regard  to  the  idle  rumours 
and  forgeries  of  his  enemies,  as  to  give  them  the 
credit  of  an  examination,  he  touches  Pompey's  con- 
duct and  pretended  fears,  with  a  fine  and  masterly 
raillery  ;  and,  from  a  kind  of  prophetick  foresight 
of  what  might  one  day  happen,  addresses  himself 

to  him  in  a  very  pathetick  manner. "  I  could 

"  not  but  applaud,"  says  he,  "  the  wonderful  dili- 
"  gence  of  Pompey  in  these  inquiries  :  but,  to  tell 

*  Interim  cum  sciret  Clodius— -Iter  solenne — necessariiim — Miloni 
esse  Lanuviuin — Roma  ipse  profectiis  pridie  est,  ut  ante  suum  fundiim, 
quod  re  intellectum  est,  insidias  Miloni  collocaret — Milo  aiitem  cinn 
in  senatu  fuisset  eo  die,  quoad  senatus  diniissus  est,  donium  venit, 
calceos  et  vestimenta  mutavit  :  paullisper,  dum  se  uxor,  ut  fit,  com- 
parat,  commoratus  est — obviam  fit  ei  Clodius  expeditus  in  equo,  nulla 
rheda,  nullis  impediinentis,  nullis  Graecis  comitibus,  sine  uxore, 
quod  nunquam  fere  ;  cum  hie  insidiator, — (Milo)  cum  uxore  in  rbeda 
veheretur  penulatus,  nia^no  irapedimento,  ac  muliebri  et  delicato 
ancillarum  et  puerorum  coniitatu— Pro  Mil.  10.  it.  21. 

f  Quamobrera  si  crucntum  gladium  tenons  clamaret  T.  Annius,  Ad- 
este,  quaeso,  atque  audite  civcs  :  P.  Clodiura  interfeci :  ejus  furores, 
quos  uullis  jam  legibtis,  nullis  judiciis  fraenare  poteramus,  hoc  ferro. 
atque  bar  dextra  a  cervicibus  vestris  repuli,  etc.  Vos  tanti  sceleris 
u!torem  non  modo  bonoribus  nullis  afficietis,  sed  etiam  ad  supplicium 
rapi  patiemini  '     Pro  Mil.  28,  etc. 


160  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  vi. 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cie.  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius   Magnus  III.    Sine  Collega. 

"  you  freely  what  I  think ;  those  who  are  charged 
"  with  the  care  of  the  whole  republick,  are  forced 
"  to  hear  many  thinojs,  which  they  would  contemn, 
"  if  they  were  at  liberty  to  do  it.  He  could  not 
"refuse  an  audience  to  that  paltry  fellow,  Li- 
"  cinius,  who  2^ave  the   information  about  Milo's 

*^  servants 1  was  sent  for  amono^  the  first  of  those 

''  friends  by  whose  advice  he  laid  it  before  the  sen- 
*'  ate,  and  was,  I  own,  in  no  small  consternation, 
*'  to  see  the  guardian  both  of  me  and  my  country 
"  under  so  great  an  apprehension  ;  yet  I  could  not 
"  help  wondering  that  such  credit  was  given  to  a 
"  butcher,  such  regard  to  drunken  slaves,  and  how 
'*  the  wound  in  the  man's  sides,  which  seemed  to 
*'  be  the  prick  only  of  a  needle,  could  be  taken 
"  for  the  stroke  of  a  gladiator.  But  Pompey  was 
"  shewing  his  caution,  rather  than  his  fear,  and 
^^  disposed  to  be  suspicious  of  every  thing,  that 
"  you  might  have  reason  to  fear  nothing.  There 
''  was  a  rumour  also,  that  Caesar's  house  was  at- 
"  tacked  for  several  hours  in  the  night :  the  neigh- 
"  bours,  though  in  so  publick  a  place,  heard  no- 
« thing  at  all  of  it;  yet  the  affair  was  thought  fit 
« to  be  inquired  into.  I  can  never  suspect  a  man 
"  of  Pompey's  eminent  courage  of  being  timor- 
*'  ous  ;  nor  yet  think  any  caution  too  great  in  one, 
"  who  has  taken  upon  himself  the  defence  of  the 
"  whole  republick.  A  senator,  likewise,  in  a  full 
"  house,  affirmed  lately  in  the  Capitol,  that  Milo 
"  had  a  dagger  under  his  gown  at  that  very  tim^  : 
"  IVlilo  slript  himself  p4-esently  in  that  most  sacred 
"  temple,  that,  since  his  life  and  manners  would 
"  not  give  him  credit,  the  thing  itself  might  speak 
"  for  him,  which  was  found  to  be  false,  and  basely 
"forged.     But  if,  after  all,  IVJilo  must  still  be  fear- 


SECT.    VI. 


CICERO.  161 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cic  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  III,     Sine  CoHega. 

"  ed,  it  is  no  longer  the  affairs  of  Clodius,  but  your 
*'  suspicions,  Pompey,  which  we  dread:  your, your 
"  suspicions,  I  say,  and  speak  it  so,  that  you  may 
**  hear  me. — If  those  suspicions  stick  so  close  that 
"they  are  never  to  be  removed,  if  Italy  must 
"  never  be  free  from  new  levies,  nor  the  city  from 
"arms,  without  Milo's  destruction,  he  would  not 
"  scruple,  such  is  his  nature  and  his  principles,  to 
"  bid  adieu  to  his  country,  and  submit  to  a  volun- 
"tary  exile:  but,  at  taking  leave,  he  would  call 
"  upon  thee,  O  thou  Great  One  !  as  he  now  does, 
"to  consider  how  uncertain  and  variable  the  con- 
"  dition  of  life  is  ;  how  unsettled  and  inconstant  a 
"  thing  fortune  ;  wliat  unfaithfulness  there  is  in 
"  friends ;  what  dissimulation  suited  to  times  and 
"  circumstances  ;  what  desertion,  what  cowardice  in 
"  oiu'  dano^ers,  even  of  those,  who  are  dearest  to  us : 
"  there  will,  there  will,  I  say,  be  a  time,  and  the  day 
"  will  certainly  come,  v>  hen  you,  with  safety  still, 
"  I  hope,  to  your  fortunes,  though  changed  per- 
"  haps  by  some  turn  of  the  common  times,  which, 
"  as  experience  shew^s,  will  often  ha|)pen  to  us  all, 
*'may  want  the  affection  of  the  friendliest,  the 
"  fidelity  of  the  worthiest,  the  courage  of  the  brav- 
"  est  man  living,"  &c.* 

Of  one  and  fifty  judges  who  sat  upon  Milo,  thir- 
teen only  acquitted,  and  thirty-eight  condemned 
bim :  the  votes  were  usually  given  by  ballot ;  but 
Cato,  who  absolved  him,  chose  to  give  his  vote 
openly ;  and  "  if  he  had  done  it  earlier,"  says  Yel- 
leius,  "  would  have  drawn  others  after  him,  since 
"  all  were  convinced  that  he,  who  w  as  killed  was,  of 

*  Pro.  Mil.  24,  25,  26— 

VOL.  ir.  21 


W2  THE    LIFE   OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  701.    Gic.  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus  III.    Sine  CoUega. 

"  all  who  had  ever  lived,  the  most  pernicious  enemj 
"  to  his  country,  and  to  all  good  inen."^  Milo  went 
into  exile  at  Marseilles  a  few  days  after  his  con- 
demnation :  his  debts  were  so  sr^eat  that  he  was 
glad  to  retire  the  sooner  from  the  importunity  of 
his  creditors,  for  whose  satisfaction  his  whole  estate 
was  sold  by  publick  auction.  Here  Cicero  still 
continued  his  care  for  him,  and  in  concert  with 
Milo's  friends,  ordered  one  of  his  wife's  freed  men, 
Philotimus,  to  assist  at  the  sale,  and  to  purchase  the 
greatest  part  of  the  effects,  in  order  to  dispose  of 
them  afterwards  to  the  best  advantage,  for  the  bene- 
fit of  Milo  and  his  wife  Fausta,  if  any  thing  could 
be  saved  for  them.  But  his  intended  service  was 
not  so  well  relished  by  Milo,  as  he  expected ;  for 
Philotimus  was  suspected  of  playhig  the  knave,  and 
secreting  part  of  the  effects  to  his  own  use,  which 
gave  Cicero  great  uneasiness,  so  that  he  pressed 
Atticus  and  Caelius  to  inquire  into  the  matter  very 
narrowly,  and  oblige  Philotimus  "  to  give  satisfac- 
"  tion  to  Milo's  friends,  and  to  see  especially  that 
"  his  own  reputation  did  not  suffer  by  the  manage- 
"  ment  of  his    servant."!     Through    this    whole 


*  M.  Tato  palain  lata  absolvit  sententia,  quam  si  raaturius  tulisset, 
non  defuissent  qui  seqnereutur  exempliim,  probarentque  euni  civem 
oecisnm,  quo  nemo  perniciosior  Reip.  neque  bonis  inimicior  vixerat. — 
Veil.  Pat.  2.  47. 

t  Consilium  meum  hoc  luerat,  primiim  nt  in  potestate  nostra  res 
esset,  ne  ilium  mains  emptor  et  alieniis  mancipiis,  quae  permulta  se- 
cura  habet,  spoliaret :  fleinde  nt  Faustae.  cui  cautum  ille  vohiisset, 
ratum  esset.  Erat  etiam  illud,  ut  ipsi  nos,  si  quid  servari  posset,  quam 
facillime  servaremus.  Nunc  rem  totam  perspicras  velim — Si  illeque- 
ritur— Si  idem  Fausta  vult,  Philotimus,  ut  ego  ei  coram  dixeram,  mihi- 
que  ille  receperat,  ne  sit  invito  iMilone  in  bonis Ad  Att.  5.  8.  it.  6.  4. 

Quod  adPhilotimi  liberti  officiuin  et  bona  Milonis  attinet,  dedimus 
operam  ut  et  Philotimus  quam  houesti?;sime  Miloni  absenti,  ejusque 
necessariis  satis  faceret,  et  secundum  ejus  fidem  et  sedulitatem  ex- 
istimatio  tua  conservaretur.— — Ep.  Earn.  8.  3- 


6Ev;t.  VI.  ClfcERO.  163 


A.  Uib.  701,    Cic.  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pompeius  iviagiius  IIL    Sine  Collega. 


dru2:gle  about  Milo,  Pompey  treated  Cicero  with 
great  humanity  :  he  assigned  him  a  "  guard  at  the 
"  trial,  forgave  all  his  labours  for  his  friend,  though 
"  in  opposition  to  himself;  and,  so  far  from  resent- 
*'  ing  what  he  did,  would  not  suffer  other  people'? 
"  resentments  to  hurt  him."* 

The  next  trial  before  the  same  tribunal,  and  for 
the  same  crime,  was  of  M.  Saufeius,  one  of  Milo's 
confidents,  charged  with  being  the  ringleader,  in 
storming  the  house,  and  killing  Clodius;  he  was  de- 
fended also  by  Cicero,  and  acquitted  only  by  one 
vote ;  but  being  accused  a  second  time  on  the  same 
account,  1  hough  for  a  different  fact,  and  again  de- 
fended by  Cicero,  he  was  acquitted  by  a  great  ma- 
jority. But  Sex.  Clodius,  the  captain  of  the  other 
side,'  had  not  the  luck  to  escape  so  well,  but  was 
condemned  and  banished,  witli  several  others  of 
that  faction,  to  Ihe  great  joy  of  the  city,  for  burn- 
ing the  senate-house,  and  the  other  violences  com- 
mitted upon  Clodius's  death.t 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cic.  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pomp.  Magnus  III.    Q.  Caecil.  Motel.  Scipio. 

Pompey  no  sooner  published  his  new  law  against 
bribery,  than  tlie  late  consular  candidates,  Scipio 
and  Hypsaeus  were  severally  impeached  upon  it ; 

*  Uualiumanitate  lulit  coiitcutioneni  nieam  pro  Milone,  adversante 
interdum  actionibus  suis  ?  Quo  studio  providit.  nequae  me  illius  tcm- 
poris  iuvidiaattingeret?  Cnra  me  cousilio,  turn  auctorilatc,  cum  armis 
<lenique  texit  suis—Ib.  3.  10. 

t  Ascon.  Argum.  pro  Mi  Ion. 


164  .,        THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 

A.  Urb.  TOl.    Cic.  S5,    Coss.^C|i>  Pomp.  Magnus  III.    Q.  Caecil.  Metel.  Scipio. 


and  beint^  both  of  them  notoriously  guilty,  were  in 
great  danger  of  being  condemned :  but  Pompey, 
calling  the  body  of  the  judges  together,  begged  it 
of  them  as  a  favour,  that,  out  of  the  great  number 
of  state  criminals,  they  would  remit  Scipio  to  him : 
whom,  after  he  had  rescued  from  this  prosecution, 
he  declared  his  colleague  in  the  consulship,  for  the 
last  five  months  of  the  year ;  having  first  made  him 
his  father-in-law  by  marrying  his  daughter  Cornelia. 
The  other  candidate,  Hypsaeus,  was  left  to  the 
mercy  of  the  law ;  and  being  likely  to  fare  the 
worse  for  Scipio's  escape,  and  to  be  made  a  sacri' 
lice  to  the  popular  odium,  he  watched  an  opportu- 
nity of  access  to  Pompey,  as  he  was  coming  out 
of  his  bath,  and  throwing  himself  at  his  feet,  im- 
plored his  protection :  but  though  he  had  been  his 
quaestor,  and  ever  obsequious  to  his  will,  yet  Poifi- 
pey  is  said  to  have  thrust  him  away  with  great 
haughtiness  and  inhumanity,  telling  him  coldly, 
that  he  would  only  spoil  his  supper  by  detaining 
him.^ 

Before  the  end  of  the  ye^r,  Cicero  had  some 
amends  foi'^Hhe  loss  of  his  friend  Milo,  by  the  con- 
demnation and  banishment  of  two  of  the  tribunes, 
the  common  enemies  of  them  both,  Q,  PompeiusRu- 
fus,and  T.  IVlunatiusPlancus  Bursa, for  the  violences 
of  their  tribunate,  and  burning  the  senate-house. 
As  soon  as  their  office  expired,  Caelius  accused  the 

*  Cn.  autera  Pompciiis  quam  iiisolenter  ?  Qui  balneo  egressiis,  ante 
pedes  siios  prostratum  Hypsaeum'  ambitus  reum  et  nobilein  virum  et 
sibi  ainicuiu,  jacentem  reliquit,  contumeliosa  voce  prociilcatum.  Nihil 
enim  eura  aliud  agere,  quam  ut  convivinm  suura  moraretur,  respond- 
it — nieveroP.  Scipionem,  socerum  suum,  legibus  noxium,  quas  ipse 
tulerat,  in  maxima  quidem  leorura  et  illustrium  ruina,  muueris  loco  a 
judicibus  deposcere.— Val.  Max  .9.  5.  it.  Plutar.  in  Pomp. 


SECT.  VI.  CICERO.  l^i) 

A.  Urb.  roi.    Cic.  55.    Cosi.— Cn.  Pomp.  Magrnis  III.    q.  Caecil.  Metel.  Scipio. 

first;  and  Cicero  himself  the  second;  the  only 
cause,  excepting  that  of  Verres,  in  which  lie  ever 
acted  the  part  of  an  accuser.  But  Bursa  had  de- 
served it,  both  for  his  publick  behaviour  in  his 
office,  and  his  personal  injuries  to  Cicero  ;  who  had 
defended  and  preserved  him  in  a  former  trial.  He 
depended  on  Pompey's  saving  him  ;  and  had  no  ap- 
prehension of  danger  since  Pompey  undertook  to 
plead  his  cause,  before  judges  of  his  own  appoint- 
ing ;  yet,  by  Cicero's  vigour  in  managing  the  pro- 
secution, he  was  condemned  by  an  unanimous  vote 
of  the  whole  bench.*  Cicero  w^as  highly  pleased 
with  this  success,  as  he  signifies  in  a  letter  to  his 
friend  Marius,  which  will  explain  tlie  motives  of 
his  conduct  in  it. 

"  I  knoAv  very  well,"  says  he,  "  that  you  rejoice 
"at  Bursa's  fate,  but  you  congratulate  me  too 
"  coldly :  you  imagine,  you  tell  me,  that  for  the 
"  sordidness  of  the  man,  I  take  the  less  pleasme  in 
"  it :  but  believe  me,  I  have  more  joy  from  this  sen- 
"  tence,  than  from  the  death  of  my  enemy  :  for, 
"  in  the  first  place,  I  love  to  pursue,  ratlier  by  a 
"  trial,  than  the  sword ;  rather  with  the  glory,  than 
"  theruin  of  a  friend  ;  and  it  pleased  me  extreme- 
''  ly,  to  see  so  great  an  inclination  of  all  honest  men 
''  on  my  side,  against  the  incredible  pains  of  one,  the 
"  most  eminent  and  powerful :  and  lastly,  what  you 
*'  will  scarce  think  possible,  I  liated  this  fellow  worse 
''  than  Clodius  himself  :  for  I  had  attacked  the  one, 
"  but  defended  the  other :  and  Clodius,  when  the 
"  safety  of  the  lepublick  was  risked  upon  my 
"  head,   had  something  great  in  view,   not  indeed 

*  Planciim,  qui  omnibus  senteiitiis  maximo  vestro  plaiisu  conciemna- 
tus. Philip  6.  4. 


366  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vi. 


A.  Urb.  701.    Cic.  SS.    Coss.— Cn.  Pomp.  Magnus  HI.    Q*  Caecil.  Metel.  Scipio. 

"  from  his  own  streno;lh,  but  the  help  of  those,  who 
"  could  not  maintain  their  ground,  whilst  I  stood 
"  firm  :  but  this  silly  ape,  out  of  a  ^ayety  of  heart, 
"  chose  me  particularly  for  the  object  of  his  in- 
"  vectives ;  and  persuaded  those,  who  envied  me, 
"  that  he  would  be  always  at  their  service,  to  insult 
"  me  at  any  warnino;.  Wherefore  I  charge  you  to 
"  rejoice  in  good  earnest ;  for  it  is  a  great  victory, 
"  w^hich  we  have  won.  No  citizens  were  ever 
''  stouter  than  those  who  condemned  him,  against 
"  so  great  a  power  of  one,  by  whom  themselves 
"  were  chosen  judges :  which  they  would  never 
'^  have  done,  if  they  had  not  made  my  cause  and 
"  grief  their  own.  We  are  so  distracted  here  by  a 
'^  multitude  of  trials  and  new  lawc,  that  our  daily 
^'  prayer  is  against  all  intercalations,  that  we  may 
"  see  you  as  soon  as  possible."^ 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Clodius,  Cicero  seems 
to  have  written  his  treatise  on  hrvs  ;t  after  the  ex- 
ample of  Plato,  whom  of  all  writers  he  most  loved 
to  imitate  :  for  as  Plato,  after  he  had  written  on 
government  in  general,  drew  up  a  body  of  laws, 
adapted  to  that  particular  form  of  it,  which  he  had 
been  delineating ;  so  Cicero  chose  to  deliver  his 
political  sentiments  in  the  same  method  ;t  not  by 
translating  Plato,  but  imitating  his  manner  in  the 
explication  of  them.  This  w^ork  being  designed 
then  as  a  supplement,  or  second  volume,  to  his 
other  upon  the  repuhlick,  was  distributed  probably, 
as  that  other   was,  into  six  books :  for  we  meet 

*Ep.  Fam.  7.  2.  f  Vid.  tie  Legib.  2.  17. 

I  Sed  ut  vir  doctisssimus  fecit  Plato,   atqiie  idem  gravissimus  phi- 
losophorura  omnium,  qui  princeps  de  Repub.  conscripsit,    ideraque 

separatim  de  legibus  ejus   id  niihi  credo  esse  faciundnm De  Le- 

ffib.  2.  C. 


8ECT.  VI.  CICERO.  167 

A.  Urb.  701.     Cic.  SS.     Coss.— Cn.  Pomp.  Magnus  III.    Q.  Caecil.  Metel.  Scii«o. 


with  some  quotations  amon^  the  ancients,  from  the 
fourth  and  fifth;  though  there  are  but  tliree  now 
remaining,  and  those  in  some  places  imperfect.  In 
the  first  of  these,  he  lays  open  "  the  origin  of  law 
"  and  the  source  of  obligation ;  which  he  derives 
"  from  the  universal  nature  of  things,  or,  as  he  ex- 
"  plains  it,  from  the  consummate  reason  or  will 
"  of  the  supreme  God  :"*  in  the  other  two  books, 
he  oives  a  body  of  laws  conformable  to  his  own 
plan  and  idea  of  a  well  ordered  city  :t  first,  those 
which  relate  "  to  religion  and  the  worship  of  the 
"gods;"  secondly,  those  which  prescribe  "the  du- 
"  ties  and  powers  of  the  several  magistrates,"  from 
which  the  peculiar  form  of  each  government  is  de- 
nominated. These  laws  are  generally  taken  "  from 
"  the  old  constitution  or  custom  of  Rome  ;"J  with 
some  little  variation  and  temperament,  contrived 
to  obviate  the  disorders  to  which  that  republick 
was  liable,  and  to  give  it  a  stronger  turn  towards 
the  aristocratical  side  :^  in  the  other  books  which 
are  lost,  he  had  treated,  as  he  tells  us,  "  of  the 
"  particular  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Roman 
"  people."|| 

*  Haiic  igitiir  video  sapientissimoiT.ra  fuisse  sententiain,  legem  iie- 
qiie  honiinuin  ingeniis  excogifatam,  nee  scituni  al  quod  esse  populo- 
FUin,  sed  aeternuni  qiiiddam,  quod  universuui  iniinduiii  regeret,  inipe- 
randi  prohibendique  sapientia.  Ita  principein  legem  illam  et  ultimam 
mentem  esse  dicebant,  omnia  ratione  aut  cogentis  aut  vetantis  Dei. — 

Quamobrem  lex  vera  atque  princeps ratio  est  recta  summi  Jovis. 

lb.  2.  4. 

I  Nos  antem  quoniam — quae  de  optima  Rcpnb.  sentiremus.  in  sex 
libris  ante  diximus,  accommodabimus  hoc  tempore  leges  ad  ilium, 
quern  probamus,  civitatis  slatum. lb.  3.  2. 

I  Et  si  quae  forte  a  me  hodie  rogabuntur,  quae  non  sint  in  nostra 
Repub.  nee  luerint,  tamen  erunt  fere  in  more  majorum,  qui  turn,  ut 
lex  valebat.     lb.  2.  10. 

$  Nihil  habui ;  sane  non  multum,  quod  putarem  novandum  in  legf- 
bus.     lb.  3.  5.  II  lb.  3.  20. 


168  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vr, 

A.  Urb,  701.    Cic.  SS.    Coss.— Cn.  Pomp.  Magnus  III,    Q.  Caecil.  Metel.  Scipio. 

Pompey  was  preparing  an  inscription  this  sum- 
mer for  the  front  of  the  new  temple,  which  he  had 
lately  built  to  Yenus  the  Conqueress,  containing, 
as  usual,  the  recital  of  all  his  titles ;  but,  in  draw- 
ing it  up,  a  question  happened  to  be  started,  about 
the  manner  of  expressing  his  third  consulship  ; 
whether  it  should  be  by  consul  tertium^  or  tertio. 
This  was  referred  to  the  principal  criticks  of  Rome, 
who  could  not,  it  seems,  agree  about  it ;  some  of 
them  contending  for  the  one,  some  for  the  other  ; 
so  that  Pompey  left  it  to  Cicero  to  decide  the 
matter,  and  to  inscribe  what  he  thought  the  best. 
But  Cicero,  being  unwilling  to  give  judgment  on 
either  side,  when  there  were  great  authorities  on 
both,  and  Yarro  among  them,  advised  Pompey  to  ab- 
breviate the  word  in  question,  and  order  Tert. 
only  to  be  inscribed,  which  fully  declared  the  things 
without  determining  the  dispute.  From  this  fact 
we  ,may  observe,  how  nicely  exact  they  were  in 
this  age,  in  preserving  a  propriety  of  language  in 
their  public k  monuments  and  inscriptions.^ 

AmongJ^he  other  acts  of  Pompey,  in  this  third 
consulship,  there  was  a  new  law  against  bribery, 
contrived  to  streno;then  tlie  old  ones  that  were  al- 
ready subsisting  against  it,  "  by  disqualifying  all 
*'  future  consuls  and  praetors  from  holding  any 
"  province,  till  five  years  after  the  expiration  of 
"  their  magistracies :"  for  this  was  thought  likely 
to  give  some  check  to  the  eagerness  of  suing  and 
bribing  for  those  great  offices,  when  the  chief 
fruit  and  benefit  of  them  was  removed  to  such  a 

*  This  story  is  told  by  Tiro,  a  favourite  slave  and  freedman  of 
Cicero,  in  a  letter  preserved  by  A.  Gellius,  1.  10.  1. 


SECT.    VI.  CICERO.  169 

A.  Urb.  701.  Cic.  S5.    Cosj.— Cn.  Pomp.  Magnus  III.    Q.   Caecil.  Metel.  Scipio. 

distance.^^  Bui  before  the  law  passed,  Pompey 
took  care  to  provide  an  exception  for  liimself, 
"  and  to  </et  the  government  of  Spain  conlinu- 
"  ed  to  him  for  five  years  longer ;  with  an  appoint- 
"  ment  of  money  for  the  payment  of  his  troops  :" 
and,  lest  this  should  give  offence  to  Caesar,  if  some- 
thing also  of  an  extraordinary  kind  was  not  provided 
for  him,  he  proposed  a  law,  to  dispense  with  Cae- 
sar's absence  in  suing  for  the  consulship  ;  of  which 
Caesar  at  that  time  seemed  very  desirous.  Caelius 
was  the  promoter  of  this  law,  engaged  to  it  by 
Cicero,  at  the  joint  request  of  Pompey  and  Cae- 
sar ;t  and  it  was  carried  with  the  concurrence  of 
all  the  tribunes,  though  not  without  difficulty  and 
obstruction  from  the  senate  :  but  this  unusual  fa- 
vour, instead  of  satisfying  Caesar,  served  only,  as 
Suetonius  says,  to  raise  his  hopes  and  demands  still 
higher.J 

By  Pompey 's  law,  just  mentioned,  it  was  provid- 
ed, that  for  a  supply  of  governours  for  the  interval 
''  of  five  years,  in  which  the  consuls  and  praetors 
"  were  disqualified,  the  senators  of  consular  and 
"  praetorian  rank,  who  had  never  held  any  foreign 
"  command,  should  divide  the  vacant  provinces 
"  among  themselves  by  lot :"  in  consequence  of 
which,  Cicero,  who  was  obliged  to  take  his  chance 
with  the  rest,  obtained  the  government  of  Cilicia, 

*  Dio,  p.  142. 

t  Rogatus  ab  ipso  Ravennae  de  Caelio  tribuno  pleb.  ab  ipso  autem? 
Etiam  a  Cnaeo  nostro.     Ad  Att.  7.  1. 

|Egit  cum    tribunis    pleb. ut    absenti   sibi potitio    serundi 

Gonsuiatus  daretiir Qiiod  ut  adeptus  est,  altiora  jam  intditans  et 

spei  plenus,  nullum  largitionis,  aut  officiorum  in  quemquam  genus 
publice  pjivatimque  omisit.     Suet.  J.  Caes.  20. 

VOL.    IT.  22 


170  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vi, 

A.  Urb.  TOl    Cic  55.    Coss.— Cn.  Pomp.  Magnus  III.    Q.  Caecil.  Metel.  Scipio. 

now  ill  the  hands  of  Appius,  the  late  consul :  this 
province  included  also  Pisidia,  Pamphilia,  and  three 
dioceses,  as  they  were  called,  or  districts  of  Asia, 
together  with  the  island  of  Cyprus  ;  for  the  guard 
of  all  which,  "  a  standing  army  was  kept  up,  of 
"two  legions,  or  about  twelve  thousand  foot,  with 
"  two  thousand  six  hundred  horse  :"*  and  thus  one 
of  those  provincial  governments,  which  were  with- 
held from  others  by  law,  to  correct  their  inordinate 
passion  for  them,  was,  contrary  to  his  will  and  ex- 
pectation, obtruded  at  last  upon  Cicero,  whose  bu- 
siness it  had  been  through  life  to  avoid  them.f 

The  city  began  now  to  feel  the  unhappy  effects, 
both  of  Julia's  and  Crassus's  death,  from  the  mutu- 
al apprehensions  and  jealousies  which  discovered 
themselves  more  and  more  every  day  between  Pom- 
pey  and  Caesar ;  the  senate  was  generally  in  Pom- 
pey's  interest ;  and,  trusting  to  the  name  and  autho- 
rity of  so  great  a  leader,  were  determined  to  hum- 
ble  the  pride  and  ambition  of  Caesar,  by  recalling 
him  from  his  government ;  whilst  Caesar,  on  the 
other  hand,  trusting  to  the  strength  of  his  troops, 
resolved''to  keep  possession  of  it  in  defiance  of  all 
their  votes  ;  and,  by  drawing  a  part  of  his  forces 
into  the  Italick  or  Cisalpine  Gaul,  so  as  to  be  rea- 
dy at  any  warning  to  support  his  pretensions,  be- 
gan to  alarm  all  Italy  with  the  melancholy  pros- 
pect of  an  approaching  ( ivil  war :  and  this  was  the 
situation  of  aifairs,  when  Cicero  set  forward  towards 
his  government  of  Cilicia. 

*  Ad  Att.  5.  15. 

t  Cum  et  contra  voluntatem  mfiam  et  praeter  opinionem  accidisseU 
ut  mihi  eum  imperio  in  provinciaiu  proficisci  iiecesse  esset.-  Ep 
Fam.  3.  2. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  in 


SECTION  vn 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  50.    Coss.-— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


This  year  opens  to  us  a  new  scene  in  Cicero's  life, 
and  presents  him  in  a  character  which  he  had  never 
before  sustained,  of  the  governour  of  a  promnce,  and 
general  of  an  army.  These  preferments  were,  of 
all  others,  the  most  ardently  desired  by  the  great, 
for  the  advantages  which  they  afforded,  both  of  ac- 
quiring power  and  amassing  wealth  :  for  their  com- 
mand, though  accountable  to  the  Roman  people, 
was  absolute  and  uncontrollable  in  the  province ; 
where  they  kept  up  the  state  and  pride  of  sove- 
reign princes,  and  had  all  the  neighbouring  kings 
paying  a  court  to  them,  and  attending  their  orders. 
If  their  genius  was  turned  to  arms,  and  fond  of 
martial  glory,  they  could  never  want  a  pretext  for 
war,  since  it  was  easy  to  drive  the  subjects  into  re- 
bellion, or  the  adjoining  nations  to  acts  of  hostility, 
by  their  oppressions  and  injuries,  till,  from  the  de- 
struction of  a  number  of  innocent  people,  they  had 
acquired  the  title  of  emperour,  and  with  it  the  pre- 
tension to  a  triumph  ;  without  which,  scarce  any 
proconsul  was  ever  known  to  return  from  a  remote 
and  frontier  province.*       Their  opportunities  of 

*  While  the  ancient  discipline  of  the  republick  subsisted,  no  g-jne- 
ral  could  pretend  to  a  triumph,  who  had  not  enlari^ed  Ihe  bounds  of 
the  empire,  by  his  conquests,  and  killed,  at  least  five  thousand  ene- 
raies  in  battle,  without  any  considera])le  loss  of  his  own  soldiers. . 


172  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


raising  money  were  as  immense  as  their  power,  and 
bounded  only  by  their  own  appetites :  the  appoint- 
ments from  the  treasury,  for  their  equipage,  plate, 
and  necessary  furniture,  amounted,  as  it  appears 
from  instances,  to  near  a  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand pounds  :^  and,  besides  the  revenues  of  king- 
doms and  pay  of  armies,  of  which  they  had  the 
arbitrary  management,  they  could  exact  what  con- 
tributions they  pleased,  not  only  from  the  cities  of 
their  own  jurisdiction,  but  from  all  the  states  and 
princes  around  them,  who  were  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Rome.  But  while  their  primary  care  was 
to  enrich  themselves,  they  carried  out  with  them 
always  a  band  of  hungry  friends  and  dependents,  as 
their  lieutenants,  tribunes,  praefects,  with  a  crew 
of  freedmen  and  favourite  slaves,  who  were  all 
likewise  to  be  enriched  by  the  spoils  of  the  pro- 
vince, and  the  sale  of  their  master's  favours.  Hence 
flowed  all  those  accusations  and  trials  for  the  plun- 
der of  the  subjects,  of  which  we  read  so  much  in 
the  Roman  writers :  for,  as  few  or  none  of  the  pro- 
consuls behaved  themselves  with  that  exact  justice, 
as  to  leave  no  room  for  complaint,  so  the  factions 
of  the  cit}^  and  the  quarrels  of  families,  subsi-ting 
from  former  impeachments,  generally  excited  some 

This  was  expressly  enacted  by  an  old  law  :  in  support  of  which  a  se- 
cond was  afterwards  provided,  that  made  it  penal  for  any  of  their  tri- 
nmphant  commanders  to  give  a  false  account  of  the  number  of  slain, 
either  on  the  enemy's  side,  or  their  own ;  and  obliged  them,  upon 
their  entrance  into  the  city,  to  take  an  oath  before  the  quaestors  or 
publick  treasurers,  that  the  accounts  which  they  had  sent  to  the  se- 
nate of  each  number,  were  tru^.  [Val.  Max.  2.  8.]  But  these  laws 
had  long  been  neglected  and  treated  as  obsolete ;  and  the  honour  of  a 
triumph  usually  granted,  by  intrigue  and  faction,  to  every  general  of 
any  credit,  who  had  gained  some  little  advantage  against  pirates  or 
fugitives,  or  repelled  the  incursions  of  the  wild  barbarians,  who  bor- 
dered upon  the  distant  provinces. 

^  *  Nonne  H.  S.  centies  et  octagies — quasi  vasarii  nomine — ex  aerario 
tibi  attributum,  Romae  in  quaestu  reliquisti  ?    In  Pisoo.  35. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  17;i 

A.  Urb.  702.     Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus- 

or  other  to  revenge  the  affront  in  kind,  by  un- 
dertaking the  cause  of  an  injured  province,  and 
dressing  up  an  ioipeachment  against  their  enemy. 

But  whatever  benefit  or  glory  this  governtnent 
seemed  to  offer,  it  had  no  charms  for  Cicero :  the 
thins;  itself  was  disagreeable  to  his  temper,    nor 
worthy  of  those  talents  which  were  formed  to  sit 
at  the  helm,  and  shine  in  the  administration  of  the 
whole  republick :  so  that  he  considered  it  only  as 
an  honourable  exile,  or  a  burthen  imposed  by  his 
country,  to  which  his  duly  obliged  him  to  submit. 
His  first  care,  therefore,  was  to  provide,  that  iiis 
command  might  not  be  prolonged  to  him  beyond 
the  usual  term  of  a  year  ,  which  was  frequently 
done,  when  the    necessities  of   the  province,  the 
character  of  the  man,  the  intrigues  of  parties,  or 
the  hurry  of  other  business  at  home,  left  the  se- 
nate  neither  leisure   nor  inclination  to    think   of 
changing  the  governour:  and  tliis  was  the  more 
likely  to  happen  at  present,  through  the  scarcity  of 
magistrates,  who  were  now  left  capable  by  the  late 
law  of  succeeding  him.  Before  his  departure,  there- 
fore, he  solicited  all  his  friends,  not  to  suffer  such 
a  mortification  to  fall  upon  him  ;  and,  after  he  was 
gone,  scarce  wrote  a  single  letter  to  Rome,  with- 
out Urging  the  same  request  in  tlie  most  pressing 
terms :  in  his  first  to  Atticus,   within  three  days 
from  their  parting :  "  Do  not   imaiiine,"  says  he, 
^'that.I  have  any  other  consolation  in  this  great 

*  Totura  negotinm  non  est  dignum  viribiis  nostris,  qui  inajora 
ouera  in  Hep.  snstinc  re  et  possim  et  soleani.     ¥.]>■  Pani.  2.  11. 

O  rem  miniine  aptam  ineis  moribus,  etc.     Ad  Att.  .').  10. 

Sed  est  incredibile,  qnam  me  negotii  toedeat,  non  hahet  satis  mag- 
num campum  ille  tibi  non  ignotus  cursus  animi  mei.     lb.  D. 


174  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    C!oss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcdlus. 

^'  trouble,  than  the  hopes  that  it  will  not  be  con- 
"  tinned  beyond  the  year  :  many,  who  judge  of  me 
"  by  others,  do  not  take  me  to  be  in  earnest ;  but 
"  you,  who  know  me,  will  use  all  your  diligence, 
"  especially  when  the  affair  is  to  come  on."* 

He  left  the  city  about  the  first  of  May,  attended 
by  his  brother  and  their  two  sons:  for  Q,uintus 
had  quitted  his  commission  under  Caesar,  in  order 
to  accompany  him  into  Cilicia,  in  the  same  capa- 
city of  his  lieutenant.  Atticus  had  desired  him, 
before  he  left  Italy,  to  admonish  his  brother,  to 
shew  more  complaisance  and  affection  to  his  wife 
Pomponia,  who  had  been  complaining  to  him  of 
her  husband's  peevishness  and  churlish  carriage ; 
and,  lest  Cicero  should  forget  it,  he  put  him  in 
mind  again,  by  a  letter  to  him  on  the  road,  that, 
since  all  the  family  were  to  be  together  in  the 
country,  on  this  occasion  of  his  going  abroad,  he 
would  persuade  Quintus  to  leave  his  wife,  at  least, 
in  good  humour  at  their  parting:  in  relation  to 
w^hich,  Cicero  sends  him  the  following  account  of 
what  passed. 

"  When  I  arrived  at  Arpinum,  and  my  brother 
"  was  come  to  me,  our  first  and  chief  discourse 
"  was  on  you ;  which  gave  me  an  opportunity  of 
"falling  upon  the  affair  of  your  sister,  which  you 
"  and  I  had  talked  over  together  at  Tusculum :  I 
"  never  saw  any  thing  so  mild  and  moderate  as  my 
"  brother  was,  without  ^giving  the  least  hint  of  his 

*  Noli  putare  mihi  aliam  consolatiouem  esse  hiijus  iogeutis  mo- 
lestiae,  nisi  quod  spero  nou  longiorem  anno  fore.  Hoc  me  ita  velle 
multj  non  credunt  ex  consuetudine  aliorum.  Tii,  qui  scis,  oranem 
diligentiama  dhibebis  ;  tuin  vscilicet,  cum  id  agi  debebit.     lb.  3. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  i7i 


A.  Urb.  702.     Cic.  56.    Coss.-SerT.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

"  ever  having  had  any  real  cause  of  offence  from 
"  her.  The  next  morning  we  left  Arpinum  ;  and 
"  that  day  being  a  festival,  Qiiintiis  was  obliged  to 
"  spend  it  at  Arcanum,  where  I  dined  with  him, 
"  but  went  on  afterwards  to  Aqqinum :  You  know 
"this  villa  of  his:  as  soon  as  we  came  thither, 
"  duintus  said  to  his  wife,  in  the  civilest  terms, 
" '  Do  you,  Pomponia,  invite  the  women,  and  I  will 
"  send  to  the  men :' — (nothing,  as  far  as  I  saw, 
'«  could  be  said  more  obligingly,  either  in  his  words 
"  or  manner) — to  which  she  replied,  so  as  we  all 
*'  might  hear  it,  '  I  am  but  a  stranger  here  myself :' 
"  referring,  I  guess,  to  my  brother's  having  sent 
"  Statins  before  us  to  order  the  dinner :  upon  which, 
"  — '  See,'  says  my  brother  to  me,  «  what  I  am 
"  forced  to  bear  every  day.'  This,  you  will  say, 
"  was  no  great  matter.  Yes,  truly,  great  enough 
"to  give  me  much  concern;  to  see  her  reply  so 
"  absurdly  and  fiercely,  both  in  her  words'  and 
"  looks  :  but  1  dissembled  my  uneasiness.  When 
"we  sat  down  to  dinner,  she  would  not  sit  down 
"  with  us :  and  when  Quintus  sent  her  several 
"  things  from  the  table,  she  sent  them  all  back  :  in 
"  short,  nothing  could  be  milder  than  my  brother, 
"  or  ruder  than  your  sister  :  yet  I  omit  many  par- 
"ticulars,  which  gave  more  trouble  to  me  than  to 
"  (iuintus  himself.  I  went  away  to  Aquinum  ;  he 
"  staid  at  Arcanum  :  but  when  he  came  to  me  early 
"  the  next  morning,  he  told  me,  tliat  she  refused  to 
"  lye  with  him  that  night ;  and,  at  their  parting, 
"  continued  in  the  same  humour  in  which  I  had 
"seen  her.  In  a  word,  you  may  let  her  know 
"  from  me,  that,  in  my  opinion,  tlie  fault  was  all  on 
"  her  side  that  day.  I  have  been  longer,  perhaps, 
'*  than  was  necessary,  in  my  narrative,  to  let  you 


ire  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Sei-v.  Sulpieius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellas. 

"  see  that  there  is  occasion  also  on  your  part  for 
"  advice  and  admonition."* 

One  cannot  help  observing  from  this  little  in- 
cident, what  is  confirmed  by  innumerable  instan- 
ces in  the  Roman  story,  that  the  freedom  of  a  di- 
vorce, which  was  indultred  without  restraint  at 
Eome,  to  the  caprice  of  either  party,  gave  no  ad- 
vanta  .^e  of  comfort  to  the  matrimonial  state  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  seems  to  have  encouraged  rather 
a  mutual  perverse ness  and  obstinacy  ;  since,  upon 
any  little  disgust,  or  obstruction  given  to  their 
follies,  the  expedient  of  a  change  was  ready  always 
to  flatter  them  with  the  hopes  of  better  success  in 
another  trial :  for  there  never  was  an  age  or  coun- 
try, where  there  was  so  profligate  a  contempt  and 
violation  of  the  nuptial  bond,  or  so  much  lewd- 
ness and  infidelity  in  the  great  of  both  sexes,  as  at 
this  time  in  Rome . 

Cicero  spent  a  few  days  as  he  passed  forward,  at 
his  Cuman  villa,  near  Baiae,  where  there  was  such 
a  resort  of  company  to  him,^  that  he  had,  he  says, 
a  kind  ofra  little  Rome  about  him :  Hortensius 
came  among  the  rest,  though  much  out  of  health, 
to  pay  his  compliments,  and  wish  him  a  good 
voyage,  and,  at  taking  leave,  when  he  asked,  what 
commands  he  had  for  him  in  his  absence,  Cicero 
begged  of  him  only  to  use  all  his  authority,  to  hin- 
der his  government  from  f>einf!:  prolonged  to  him.f 

*  Ad  Att.  5.  1. 

f  In  Cumano  cum  es<5em,  veiiit  ad  me,  quod  mihi  pergratiim  iuit, 
noster  Mortt;nsius  :  cni,  deposcenti  mea  mandata,  caeiera  universe 
mandavi ;  liliid  proprie,  ne  pat'MTtur,  quantum  esset  in  ipso,  proro- 
gari  nobis  proviuriam. — ha!>u  mus  in  Cumano  quasi  pusiliara  Homaa) : 
tanta  erat  in  his  locis  multitudo. — lb.  2, 


SECT.  VH.  CICERO.  177 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic  56.    Coss,— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


In  sixteen  days  from  Rome,  he  arrived  at  Tar- 
entum,  where  he  had  promised  to  make  a  visit  to 
Pompey,  who  was  taking  the  benefit  of  that  soft 
air,  for  the  recovery  of  his  health,  at  one  of  his 
villas  in  those  parts ;  and  had  invited  and  pressed 
Cicero  to  spend  some  days  with  him  upon  his  jour- 
ney :  they  proposed  great  satisfaction  on  both  sides 
from  this  interview,  for  the  opportunity  of  con- 
ferring together  with  all  freedom,  on  the  present 
state  of  the  republick,  which  was  to  be  their  sub- 
ject :  though  Cicero  expected  also  to  get  some 
lessons  of  the  military  kind  from  this  renowned 
commander.  He  promised  Atticus  an  account  of 
this  conference  ;  but  the  particulars  being  too  deli- 
cate to  be  communicated  by  letter,  he  acquainted 
him  only  in  general,  that  he  found  Pompey  an  ex- 
cellent citizen,  and  provided  for  all  events  which 
could  possibly  be  apprehended.* 

After  three  days  stay  with  Pompey,  he  proceed- 
ed to  Birundisium ;  Avhere  he  was  detained  for 
twelve  days  by  a  slight  indisposition,  and  the  ex- 
pectation of  his  principal  officers,  particularly  of 
his  lieutenant  Pontinius,  an  experienced  leader, 
the  same  who  had  triumphed  over  the  Allobroges ; 
and  on  whose  skill  he  chiefly  depended  in  his  mar- 


*  Nos  Tarenti,  quos  cum  Pompeio  J'tAXoyw;  de  Kepub.  habuerimus,  ad 
te  perscribfinius — lb.  .5. 

Tarentdiu  vcni  a.  d.  xv  Kal.  Jno.  quod  Pontiniiiiu  statueram  expec- 
tare,  comuiodissimiim  duxi  dies  eos— cum  Pompeio  consumere  :  coque 
magis,  quod  ei  gra'um  esse  id  videbam,  qui  ctiam  a  me  petierit.  ut 
secum  et  apud  se  essem  quoiidie  :  quod  concessi  libeaier  mullos  cnira 
ejus  praeclaros  de  Kepub.  sermones  accipiam  :  instri;ar  etiaui  coosi- 
liis  idoneis  ad  hoc  nostriini  negotium. — lb.  6. 

Ego,  cum  triduura  cum  Pompeio  et  apud  Porapeium  fuissem,  pro- 
ficiscebar  Brundisium. — Civem  iMum  egregium  relinquebam,  et  ad 
haec,  quae  timentur,  propulsanda  paratissimum. — lb.  7. 

TOL.    II.  2.3 


178  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  vii 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


tial  affairs.  From  Brundisium,  he  sailed  to  Acti- 
um,  on  the  fifteenth  of  .June ;  whence,  partly  by 
sea,  and  partly  by  land,  he  arrived  at  Athens  on 
the  twenty-sixth.^  Here  he  lodged  in  the  house  of 
Aristus,  the  principal  professor  of  the  Academy ; 
and  his  brother  not  far  from  him,  with  Xeno,  an- 
other celebrated  philosopher  of  Epicurus's  school : 
they  spent  their  time  here  very  agreeably  ;  at 
home,  in  philosophical  disquisitions ;  abroad,  in 
viewing  the  buildings  and  antiquities  of  the  place, 
with  which  Cicero  was  much  delighted :  there 
were  several  other  men  of  learning,  both  Greeks 
and  Romans,  of  the  party ;  especially  Gallus  Cani- 
nius  and  Patro,  an  eminent  Epicurean,  and  inti- 
mate friend  of  Atticus.f 

There  lived  at  this  time  in  exile  at  Athens,  C, 
Memmius.  banished  upon  a  conviction  of  bribery, 
in  his  suit  for  the  consulship ;  who,  the  day  before 
Cicero's  arrival,  happened  to  go  away  to  Mity- 
lene.  The  figure  which  he  had  borne  in  Rome,  gave 
him  great  authority  in  Athens ;  and  the  council  of 
Areopagus  had  granted  him  a  piece  of  ground  to 
build  upott^  where  Epicurus  formerly  lived,  and 
where  there  still  remained  the  old  ruins  of  his 
walls.  But  this  grant  had  given  great  offence  to 
the  whole  body  of  the  Epicureans,  to  see  the  re- 
mains of  their  master  in  danger  of  being  destroy- 

*  Ad  Att.  5.  8,  9. 

t  Valde  mc  Athenae  delectarunt :  urbs  duntaxat,  et  urbis  ornameu- 
tum,  et  hominum  amores  in  te,  et  in  nos  quaedam  benevoleutia  ;  sed 
muitum  et  philosophia — si  quid  est,  est  in  Aristo  apud  quera  eram,  nam 
Xenoneai  tuum — Quinto  concesserana — Ad  Att.  5.  x.  Ep.  Fam.  2.  8 
13.  1. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  ir9 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.  Coss.— Sei-v.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellm. 


ed.  They  had  written  to  Cicero  at  Rome,  to  beg 
him  to  intercede  with  Memmiiis,  (o  consent  to  a 
revocation  of  it ;  and  now  at  Athens,  Xeno  and 
Patro  renewed  their  instances,  and  prevailed  with 
him  to  write  about  it,  in  the  most  efiectual  man- 
ner ;  for  though  Memmius  had  laid  aside  his  de- 
sign of  building,  the  Areopagites  would  not  recall 
their  decree  without  his  leave.*  Cicero's  letter  is 
drawn  with  much  art  and  accuracy  :  he  laughs  at 
the  trifling  zeal  of  these  philosophers,  for  the  old 
rubbish  and  paltry  ruins  of  their  founder,  yet 
earnestly  presses  Memmius,  to  indulge  them  in 
a  prejudice,  contracted  through  weakness,  not 
wickedness ;  and  though  he  professes  an  utter  dis- 
like of  their  philosophy,  yet  he  recommends  them, 
as  honest,  agreeable,  friendly  men,  for  whom  he 
entertained  the  highest  esteem.f  From  this  letter 
one  may  observe,  that  the  greatest  difference  in 
philosophy,  made  no  difference  of  friendship  among 
the  great  of  these  times.  There  was  not  a  more  de- 
clared enemy  to  Epicurus's  doctrine  than  Cicero : 
he -thought  it  destructive  of  morality,  and  perni- 
cious to  society  ;  but  he  charged  this  consequence 
to  the  principles,  not  the  professors  of  them ; 
with  many  of  whom  he  held  the  strictest  intima- 
cy ;  and  found  them  to  be  worthy,  virtuous,  gene- 
rous friends,  and  loveis  of  their  country  :  there 
is  a  jocose  letter  to  Trebatius,  when  he  was  with 

*  Visum  est  Xenoui,  et  post,  ipsi  Patroni,  me  ad  Meinmitim  srri- 
bere,  qui  pridie  quam  ego  Atlienas  veni,  Mitylenas  profecfus  erat, 
— non  enim  dubitabat  Xeno,  quia  ab  Areopagitis  invilo  xMemmio 
impetrari  non  posset.  IVlemmius  auleni  aedifioandi  consilium  ahje- 
cisset,  sed  erat  Patroni  iratus,  itaque  scrips!  ad  funi  accurate — Ad 
Att.  .'>.  II. 

+  Fp.  Fain.  l.T.  1-  7- 


180  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cjc.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


Caesar  in  Gaul,  upon  his  turning  Epicurean,  which 
will  help  to  confirm  this  reflection. 


"  CacERo  TO  Trebatius. 

"  I  was  wondering,  why  you  had  given  over 
*'  writing  to  me  ;  till  Pansa  informed  me  that  you 
"  were  turned  Epicurean.  O  rare  camp !  what 
"  would  you  have  done  if  I  had  sent  you  to  Ta- 
**  renlum,  instead  of  Samarobriva  ?  J  began  to  think 
"  the  worse  of  you,  ever  since  you  made  my  friend 
"  Seius  your  pattern.  But  with  what  face  will 
"  you  now  pretend  to  practise  the  law,  when  you 
"  are  to  do  every  thing  for  your  own  interest,  and 
"  not  for  your  client's  ?  and  what  will  become  of 
"  that  old  form,  and  test  of  fidelity ;  That  true  men 
"  ought  to  act  truly  with  one  another  ?  what  Jaw 
"  will  you  allege  for  the  distribution  of  common 
"  right,  when  nothing  can  be  common  with  those 
"  who  measure  all  things  by  their  pleasure  ?  with 
"  what  face  can  you  swear  by  Jupiter  ;  when  Ju- 
"piter,  you  know,  can  never  be  angry  with  any 
"  man  ?  and  what  will  beconie  of  your  people  of 
"  Ulubrae  ;  since  you  do  not  allow  a  wise  man  to 
"  meddle  with  politicks  ?  wherefore,  if  you  are  re- 
"  ally  gone  off  from  us,  I  am  sorry  for  it ;  but  if  it 
"  be  convenient  to  pay  this  compliment  to  Pansa, 
"  I  forgive  you  ;  on  condition,  however,  that  you 
"  write  me  word  what  you  are  doing,  and  what  you 
"  would  have  me  do  for  you  here."^  The  change 
of  principles  in  Trebatius,  though  equivalent  in 
effiect  to  a  change  of  religion  with  us,  made  no  al- 

*  Ep.  Fam.  7.  12. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  181 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

teration  in  Cicero's  affection  for  him.  This  was 
the  dictate  of  reason  to  the  best  and  wisest  of  the 
heathens ;  and  may  serve  to  expose  the  rasliness  of 
those  zealots,  who,  with  the  light  of  a  most  divine 
and  benevolent  religion,  are  perpetually  insuhino- 
and  persecuting  their  fellow  Christians,  for  difte- 
rences  of  opinion,  which,  for  the  most  part,  are 
merely  speculative,  and  without  any  influence  on 
life,  or  the  good  and  happiness  of  civil  society. 

After  ten  days  spent  at  Athens,  where  Pontinius 
at  last  joined  him,  Cicero  set  sail  towards  Asia. 
Upon  leaving  Italy,  he  had  charged  his  friend  Cae- 
lius  with  the  task  of  sending  him  the  news  of 
Rome  ;  which  Caelius  performed  very  punctually, 
in  a  series  of  letters,  which  make  a  valuable  part  in 
the  collection  of  his  familiar  epistles:  they  are 
polite  and  entertaining ;  full  of  wit  and  spirit ;  yet 
not  flowing  with  that  easy  turn,  and  elegance  of  ex- 
pression, which  w^e  always  find  in  Cicero's.  The 
first  of  them,  with  Cicero's  answer,  will  give  us  a 
specimen  of  the  rest. 


"M.  Caelius  to  M.  Cicero. 

"  According  to  my  promise  at  parting,  to  send 
'you  an  account  of  all  the  news  of  the  town,  I 
have  provided  one  to  collect  it  for  you  so  punc- 
*'  tually,  that  I  am  afraid  lest  you  think  my  diligence 
*'  at  last  too  minute  :  but  1  know  how  curious  you 
"  are ;  and  how  agreeable  it  is  to  all,  wlio  are 
"  abroad,  to  be  informed  of  every  thing  that  passes 
"  at  home,  though  ever  so  trifling,  I  l)eg  of  you, 
"however,   not  to  condemn   nie  of  arrogance,  for 


i( 


182  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  702.   Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

**  deputing  another  to  this  task :  since,  as  busy  as  I 
*'novv  am,  and  as  lazy  as  you  know  me  to  be  in 
"  writing,  it  would  be  the  greatest  pleasure  to  me, 
"  to  be  employed  in  any  thing  that  revives  the  re- 
"  membrance  of  you  :  but  the  packet  itself,  which 
"  1  have  sent,  will,  1  imagine,  readily  excuse  me  : 
"  for  what  leisure  would  it  require,  not  only  to 
"  transcribe,  but  to  attend  even  to  the  contents  of 
^'it  ?  there  are  all  the  decrees  of  the  senate,  edicts, 
"  plays,  rumours  :  if  the  sample  does  not  please  you, 
"pray  let  me  know  it,  that  I  may  not  give  you 
"  trouble,  at  my  cost.  If  any  thing  important  hap- 
"pens  in  the  republick,  above  the  reach  of  these 
"  hackney  writers,  I  will  send  you  an  account  of  it 
"  myself ;  in  what  manner  it  was  transacted ;  what 
"  speculations  are  raised  upon  it ;  what  effects  ap- 
"  prehended :  at  present,  there  is  no  great  expecta- 
"tion  of  any  thing:  as  to  those  rumours,  which 
*'  were  so  warm  at  Cumae,  of  assembling  the  colo- 
"  nies  beyond  the  Po,  when  I  came  to  Rome,  I 
"  heard  not  a  syllable  about  them.  Marcellus,  too, 
''  because  he  has  not  yet  made  any  motion  for  a 
"  successor  to  the  two  Gauls,  but  puts  it  off,  as  he 
"  told  me^'himself,  to  the  first  of  June,  has  revived 
"the  same  talk  concerning  him,  which  was  stirring 
"  when  we  were  at  Rome  together.  If  you  saw 
"  Pompey,  as  you  designed  to  do,  pray  send  me 
"  word,  in  what  temper  you  found  him ;  what  con- 
"  versation  he  had  with  you  ;  what  inclination  he 
"  shewed  :  for  he  is  apt  to  think  one  thing,  and  say 
"another,  yet  has  not  wit  enough  to  conceal  what 
"  he  reallymeans.  As  for  Caesar,  there  are  many 
"  ugly  reports  about  him ;  but  propagated  only  in 
"  whispers  :  some  say,  that  he  has  lost  all  his  horse  ; 
"  which  I  take  indeed  to  be  true :  others,  that  the 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  W3 

A,  Urh.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


"  seventh  legion  has  been  beaten ;  and  that  he  him- 
"  self  is  besieged  by  the  Bellovaci ;  and  cut  off 
"  from  the  rest  of  his  army.  There  is  nothing  yet 
"  certain  ;  nor  are  these  uncertain  stories  publickly 
"talked  of;  but  among  the  few,  whom  you  know, 
"  told  openly,  by  way  of  secrets  :  Domitius  never 
"  mentions  them,  without  clapping  his  hand  to  his 
"  mouth.  On  the  twenty-first  of  May,  the  mob  un- 
"  der  the  rostra  sent  about  a  report,  (may  it  fall  on 
"  their  own  heads)  which  was  warmly  propagated 
"through  the  forum  and  the  whole  city,  that  you 
*'  were  killed  upon  the  road  by  Q.  Pompeius :  but 
"  I,  who  knew  him  to  be  then  at  Bauli,  and  in  such 
"  a  starving  condition  that  I  could  not  help  pitying 
"  him,  being  forced  to  turn  pilot  for  his  bread,  was 
"  not  concerned  about  it ;  and  wished  only,  that  if 
"  any  real  dangers  threatened  you,  we  might  be 
"  quit  for  this  lie  :  your  friend  Plancus  Bursa,  is  at 
"  Ravenna  ;  where  he  has  had  n  large  donative  from 
"  Caesar ;  but  is  not  yet  easy,  nor  Avell  provided. 
"  Your  books  on  government  are  applauded  by  all 
«  people."^ 


-    "  M.  T.  Cicero,    Proconsul,  to  M.  Caelius. 

"  How !  was  it  this,  think  you,  that  T  charged 
"you  with  ;  to  send  me  the  matches  of  gladiatois ; 
"  the  adjournments  of  causes;  and  Chrestus's  news- 
-letter; and  what  nobody  dares  mention  to  me 
"when  at  Rome?  See,  how  much  I  ascribe  to  you 
"in  my  judgment  :  nor  indeed  without  reason,  for 
"  I  have  never  yet  met  with  a  better  head  for  poli- 


^  Epist.  Fam.  8.  1. 


184  /  THE   LIFE    OF  si:ct.  vif. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Ck.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Snipicius  Rufas.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

"  ticks :  I  would  not  have  you  write  what  passes 
"  every  day  in  publick,  though  ever  so  important, 
"  unless  it  happen  to  affect  myself:  others  will  write 
'*  it ;  many  bring  accounts  of  it ;  and  fame  itself 
'*  conveys,  a  great  part  to  me  :  I  expect  from  you, 
*' neither  the  past,  nor  the  present;  but  as  from 
"  one,  who  sees  a  great  way  before  him,  the  future 
*'  only  ;  that  when  I  have  before  me  in  your  letters 
"the  plan  of  the  republick,  I  may  be  able  to  judge 
"  what  a  sort  of  edifice  it  will  be.  Nor  have  I 
^"  hitherto  indeed  any  cause  to  complain  of  you : 
"  for  nothing  has  yet  happened,  which  you  could 
"  foresee  better  than  any  of  us ;  especially  myself, 
"  who  spent  several  days  with  Pompey,  in  convers- 
"  ing  on  nothing  else  but  the  republick  ;  which  it  is 
"  neither  possible  nor  proper  for  me  to  explain  by 
"  letter :  take  this  only  from  me :  that  Pompe)^  is 
"  an  excellent  citizen,  prepared,  both  with  courage 
'*  and  counsel,  for  all  events  which  can  be  foreseen  : 
"wherefore,  give  yourself  up  to  the  man;  believe 
"  me,  he  will  embrace  you  ;  for  he  now  holds  the 
"  same  opinion  with  us,  of  good  and  bad  citizens. 
"  After  I  had  been  ten  days  at  Athens  where  our 
"  friend  Gallus  Caninius  was  much  with  me,  I  left  it 
"  on  the  sixth  of  July,  when  I  sent  away  this  letter : 
•'  as  I  earnestly  recommend  all  my  affairs  to  you,  so 
••nothing  more  particularly,  than  that  the  time  of 
*'my  provincial  command  be  not  prolonged:  thi^ 
"  is  every  thing  to  me  ;  which,  when,  and  how,  and 
"by  whom  it  is  to  be  managed,  you  will  be  the  best 
''  able  to  contrive.     Adieu."=^ 


*  p:p.  Fam.  2.  8. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  183 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic  56.    Coss.— Senr.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Maicelliu. 

He  landed  at  Ephesus  on  the  twenty-second  of 
July,  after  a  slow  hut  safe  passage  of  fifteen  days ; 
the  tediousness  of  wliich  was  atrreeably  relieved  by 
touching  on  the  way  at  several  of  the  islands  of  the 
Aegean  sea,  of  which  he  sends  a  kind  of  journal 
to  Atticus."^  Many  deputations  from  the  cities  of 
Asia,  and  a  great  concourse  of  people,  came  to 
meet  him  as  far  as  Samos ;  but  a  much  greater 
still  was  expecting  his  landing  at  Ephesus:  the 
Greeks  flocked  eagerly  from  all  parts,  to  see  a 
man  so  celebrated  through  the  empire,  for  the 
fame  of  his  learning  and  eloquence  ;  so  that  all  his 
boastings,  as  he  merrily  says,  of  many  years  past, 
were  now  brought  to  the  test.f  After  reposing 
himself  for  three  days  at  Ephesus,  he  marched 
forward  towards  his  province  ;  and  on  the  last  of 
July,  arrived  at  Laodicea,  one  of  the  capital  cities 
of  his  jurisdiction.  From  ttiis  moment  the  date  of 
his  government  commenced ;  which  he  bids  Atti- 
cus  take  notice  of,  that  he  might  know  how  to 
compute  the  precise  extent  of  his  annual  term.J 

It  was  Cicero's  resolution  in  this  provincial  com- 
mand to  practise  those  admirable  rules  which  he 
had  drawn  up  formerly  for  his  brother ;  and  from 
an  employment   wholly  tedious  and  disagreeable 

*  Ephesuin  veiiiiniis  a.  d.  xi.  Kal.  Sext.— Ad  Att.  5.  13.  vid.  it. 
lb.  12. 

f  De  concrirsii  Jegationum,  privatorum,  et  de  incredibili  miiltitu- 
dine,  quae  mihi  jam   Saini,  sed   mirabilem  in  moduin   Kphesi   praesto 

fuit,  aiit  te  aiidisse  puto ex  quo  te  intelligere  cerlo  scio  niulto- 

rum  annorum  ostcntationes  meas  nunc  in  discrimen  esse  adductas — 
lb.  13. 

X  Laodiceam  veni  prid.  Kal.  Sextiles.  Ex  hoe  die  olavuin  aoni 
movebis.     lb.  16. 

VOL.   II.  24 


1G6  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.    vii. 

A.  Urb.  702.     Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

to  him,  to  derive  fresh  glory  upon  his  character, 
by  leaving  the  innocence  and  integrity  ot  his  ad- 
ministration, as  a  pattern  of  governing  to  all  suc- 
ceeding proconsuls.  It  had  always  been  the  cus- 
tom when  any  governours  went  abroad  to  their 
provinces,  that  the  countries,  through  which  they 
passed,  should  defray  all  the  charges  of  their  jour- 
ney :  but  Cicero  no  sooner  set  his  foot  on  foreign 
ground,  than  he  forbade  all  expense  whatsoever^ 
publick  or  private,  to  be  made  either  upon  him- 
self, or  any  of  his  company  ;  which  raised  a  great 
admiration  of  him  in  all  the  cities  of  Greece.^  In 
Asia,  he  did  the  same  ;  not  suffering  his  officers 
to  accept  what  was  due  to  them  even  by  law  ; 
forage  and  wood  for  firing,  nor  any  thing  else,  but 
mere  house-room,  with  four  beds ;  which  he  re- 
mitted also,  as  often  as  it  was  practicable,  and 
obliged  them  to  lodge  in  their  tents ;  and  by  his 
example,  and  constant  exhortations,  brought  his 
lieutenants,  tribunes,  and  praefects,  so  fully  into 
his  measures,  that  they  all  concurred  with  him, 
he  says,  wonderfully,  in  a  jealous  concern  for  his 

honour.f 

^^ 

*  Ego — quotidie  meditor,  praecipio  meis  ;  faciam  denlque  ut  sum- 
ma  modestia  et  summa  abstinentia  munus  hoc  extraordiuarium  tra- 
ducaiTius. — lb.  9. 

Adhuc  sumplas  nee  in  me  aiit  publice  aut  privatira,  nee  in  quera- 
quam  comitum.  JVihil  accipitiir  lege  Julia,  nihil  ab  hospite,  per- 
suasnm  est  omnibus  meis  sorviendimi  esse  famae  meae.  Belle  ad- 
huc. Hoc  animadversum  Graecorura  laude  et  multo  sermone  cele- 
bratur.     lb.  10. 

Nos   adhuc  iter  per  Graeciam  surama  cum  admiralione  fecinius. 

lb.  II.  ; 

f  Levantur  miserae  civitates,  quod  nullus  sit  sumptus  in  nos,  ne- 
que  Legalos,  neque  in  Quaestorem,  neque  in  queraquam.  Scito,  non 
modo  nos  foenum.  aut  quod  lege  Julia  dari  soiet  non  accipere,  sed 
ne  ligna  qiiidem,  nee  praeter  quatuor  lertos,  et  tectum,  quemquara 
acripj're  quidqnam  :  multis  locis  ne  tectum  quidem,  et  in  tabernaculo 
manere  pleruraque.     Ad  Att.  516. 


SECT.   VII.  CfCERO.  ISr 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.—Serv,  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Maitellug. 


Bein^  desirous  to  put  liimself  at  the  head  of 
his  army,  before  the  season  of  action  was  over,  he 
spent  but  little  time  in  visiting  the  cities  of  his 
jurisdiction,  reserving  the  winter  months  for  set- 
tling the  civil  affairs  of  the  province.*  He  went 
therefore  to  the  camp,  at  Iconium  in  Lycaonia, 
about  the  twenty-fourth  of  August;  where  he  had 
no  sooner  reviewed  the  troops,  than  he  received 
an  account  from  Antioclius,  kin^j^  of  Comairene, 
which  was  confirmed  from  the  other  princes  of 
those  parts,  that  the  Partliians  had  passed  the  Eu- 
phrates with  a  mighty  force,  in  order  to  invade  the 
Roman  territory  under  the  conduct  of  Pacorus  the 
king's  son.  Upon  this  news,  he  marched  towards 
Cilicia,  to  secure  his  province  from  the  inroads  of 
the  enemy,  or  any  commotions  within  :  but  as  all 
access  to  it  was  difficult,  except  on  the  side  of 
Cappadocia,  an  open  country,  and  not  well  pro- 
vided ;  he  took  his  route  through  that  kingdom, 
and  encamped  in  that  part  of  it  which  bordered 
upon  Ciiicia,  near  to  the  town  of  Cybistra,  at  the 
foot  of  mount  Taurus.  His  army,  as  it  is  said 
above,  consisted  of  about  twelve  thousand  foot, 
and  two  thousand  six  hundred  hoise,  besides  the 
auxiliary  troops  of  the  neighbouring  states,  and 
especially  of  Deiotarus,  king  of  Galatia,  the  most 
faithful  ally  of  Rome,  and  Cicero's  particular 
friend ;  whose  whole  forces  he  could  depend  upon 
at  any   warning.f 

Ut  luillus  tt-nincius  insuraatur  ii»  qnemqiiam  ;  id  sit  etiam  et  le- 
gatoruin  el  tribiinormn  ct  praeCectormn  dilij^eiitia.  Nam  oiiiries  mi- 
rifice  avfxcpiKoio^.uatv  gloriae  ineac — lb.  17. 

*  Erat  mihi  in  animo  recta  proficisci  ad  exercitiiin,  acstivos  mtii- 
ses  reliquos  rei  militari  dare,  hibernos  jurisdiclioni— lb.  14. 

t  In  castra  veni.  a.  d.  vii.  Kal.  Sept.  ad  d.  iii.  exercitum  lustrari. 


188  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vn. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

While  he  lay  m  this  camp,  he  had  an  opportuni- 
ty of  executing  a  special  commission  with  which 
he  was  charged   by   the  senate ;  to  take  Ariobar- 
zanes,   king   of  Cappadocia,    under  his  particular 
protection  ;   and    provide   for  the  security  of  his 
person  and  government :  in  honour  of  w^hom  the 
senate  had  decreed,  what  they  had  never  done  be- 
fore to  any  foreign  prince,  that  his  safety  was  of 
great  concern  to  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome. 
His  father  had  been  killed  by  the  treachery  of  his 
subjects,  and  a  conspiracy  of  the   same  kind  was 
apprehended  a<jjainst  the  son  :  Cicero,  therefore,  in 
a  council  of  his  officers,  ^ave  the  king  an  account 
of  the  decree  of  the  senate,  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  it,  he  was  then  ready  to  assist  him  with 
his   troops   and   authority    in   any   measures   that 
should  be  concerted  for  the  safety  and  quiet  of  his 
kingdom. — The  king,  after  great  professions  of  his 
thanks  and  duty  to  the  senate  for  the  honour  of 
their  decree,  and  to  Cicero  himself  for  his  care  in 
the  execution  of  it,  said,  that  he  knew  no  occasion 
for  giving  him  any  particular  trouble  at  that  time  ; 
nor  had  any  suspicion  of  any  design  against  his 
life    or   ci»own :    Upon  which   Cicero,  after  con- 
gratulating him  upon  the  tranquillity  of  his  affairs, 
advised  him  however,  to  remember  his  father's  fate, 
and,  from  the  admonition  of  the  senate,  to  be  par- 
Ex  his  castris  cum  graves  de  Parthis  uuncii  venirent,  perrexi  in  CiJi- 
ciam,  per  Cappadociae  partem  earn,  quae  Ciliciam  altingit — 

IJegis  Antiochi   Comageui  legati  primi  raihi  nunciarunt  Parthoriim 

magnas  copias  Euphratem  trausire  coepisse. Cum  exercilnm  in 

Ciliciam  diiccrera— raihi  litcrac  redditae  sunt  aTarcondimoto,  qui  fide- 
lissimns  socius  trans  Taurum  Populi  Rom.  existimatur.  Pacorum 
Orodi  Regis  Parthorum  filium,  mm  permagno  equitatu  transisse 
Euphratem,  etc.     Kp.  Fam.  15.  1. 

todera  die  ab  Jamblicho,  Pbylarcho  Arabum— lillerae  de  eisdem 
rebus,  etc. 


SECT.  VII.  CrCERO.  189 


A.  Urhu  702.  Cie.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

ticularly  vigilant  in  the  care  of  his  person  ;  and  so 
they  parted.  But  the  next  morninir  the  kinir  re- 
turned early  1o  the  camp,  attended  hy  his  brother 
and  counsellors,  and  with  many  tears  implored  the 
protection  of  Cicero,  and  the  benefit  of  the  se- 
nate's decree  ;  declaring,  ^'  that  he  had  received  un- 
*'  doubted  intelligence  of  a  plot,  which  those  who 
"  were  privy  to  it,  durst  not  venture  to  discover  till 
"  Cicero's  arrival  in  the  country,  but,  trusting  to 
"  his  authority,  had  now  given  full  information  of 
"  it ;  and  that  his  brother,  who  was  present,  and 
**  ready  to  confirm  what  he  said,  had  been  solicited 
"  to  enter  into  it  by  the  offer  of  the  crown  :  he  beg- 
"  ged,  therefore,  that  some  of  Cicero's  troops 
"  might  be  left  with  him  for  his  better  guard  and 
"  defence.  Cicero  told  him,  that,  under  the  pre- 
"  sent  alarm  of  the  Parthian  war,  he  could  not  pos- 
"  sibly  lend  him  any  part  of  his  army  ;  that  since 
^'  the  conspiracy  was  detected,  his  own  forces  would 
**  be  sufficient  for  preventing  the  effects  of  it ;  that 
"  he  should  learn  to  act  the  king,  by  shewing  a  pro- 
'*  per  concern  for  his  own  life,  and  exert  his  regal 
"  power  in  punishing  the  authors  of  the  plot,  and 
"  pardoning  all  the  rest ;  that  he  need  not  appre- 
**  hend  any  farther  danger,  when  his  people  were 
"  acquainted  with  the  senate's  decree,  and  saw  a 
"  Roman  army  so  near  to  them,  and  ready  to  put  it 
"  in  execution  :"  and,  having  thus  encouraged  and 
comforted  tlie  king,  he  marched  towards  Cilicia, 
and  gove  an  account  of  this  accident,  and  of  the 
motions  of  the  Parthians,  in  two  puhlick  letters  to 
the  consuls  and  the  senate  :  he  added  a  private  let- 
ter also  to  Cato,  who  was  a  particular  favourer  and 
patron  of  Ariobarzanes,  in  which  he  informed  him, 
"  that  he  had  not  only  secured  the  king's  person 


190  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  702    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcdlus. 

"from  any  attempt,  but  had  taken  care  tliat  he 
"  should  reign  for  the  future  with  honour  and  dig- 
"  nity,  by  restoring  to  his  favour  and  service  his 
"  old  counsellors,  whom  Cato  had  recommended, 
"  and  who  had  been  disgraced  by  the  intrigues  of 
"  his  court ;  and  by  obliging  a  turbulent  young 
"  priest  of  Bellona,  who  was  the  head  of  the  male- 
"  contents,  and  the  next  in  power  to  the  king  him- 
"  self,  to  quit  the  country."^' 

This  king,  Ariobarzanes,   seems  to  have  been 
poor  even  to  a  proverb  : 

Mancipiis  loaiples,  eget  aeris  Cappadocum  rex. 

Hor.  Ep.  I.  6. 

For  he  had  been  miserably  squeezed  and  drained 
by  the  Roman  generals  and  governours ;  to  whom 
he  owed  vast  sums,  either  actually  borrowed,  or 
stipulated  to  be  paid  for  particular  services.  It 
was  a  common  practice  with  the  great  at  Rome, 
to  lend  money  at  exhorbitant  interest,  to  the 
princes  and  cities  dependent  on  the  empire,  which 
was  thougliTTan  useful  piece  of  policy  to  both  sides  ; 
to  the  princes,  for  the  opportunity  of  engaging  to 
their  interests  the  most  powerful  men  of  the  re- 
publick,  by  a  kind  of  honourable  pension  ;  to  the 
Romans,  for  the  convenience  of  placing  their  mo- 
ney where  it  was  sure  to  bring  the  greatest  return 
of  profit.  The  ordinary  interest  of  these  provin- 
cial loans  was,  one  per;  cent,  by  the  month,  with 
interest  upon  interest :  this  was  the  lowest ;  but, 
in  extraordinary  or  hazardous  cases,   it  was  fre- 

Ep.  Fam.  15.  2,  3,  4. 


SECT.  vii.  CICERO.  191 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


quently  four  times  as  much.  Pompey  received 
monthly  from  this  very  king  above  six  thousand 
pounds  Sterling,  which  yet  was  short  of  his  full 
interest.  Brutus  also  had  lent  him  a  very  large 
sum,  and  earnestly  desired  Cicero  to  procure  the 
payment  of  it,  with  the  arrears  of  interest:  but 
Pompey's  agents  were  so  pressing,  and  the  king  so 
needy,  that  though  Cicero  solicited  Brutus's  affair 
\evy  heartily,  he  had  little  hopes  of  getting  any 
thing  for  him  :  when  Ariobarzanes  came,  therefore, 
to  offer  him'the  same  present  of  money,  which  he 
had  usually  made  to  every  other  governour,  he 
generously  refused  it  and  desired  only,  that,  in- 
stead of  giving  it  to  him,  it  might  be  paid  to  Bru- 
tus ;  but  the  poor  prince  was  so  distressed,  that  he 
excused  himself,  by  the  necessity  which  he  was 
imder  of  satisfying  some  other  more  pressing  de- 
mands ;  so  that  Cicero  gives  a  sad  account  of  his 
negotiation,  in  a  long  letter  to  Attic  us,  who  liad 
warmly  recommended  Brutus's  interests  to  him. 

"  I  come  now,"  says  he,  "  to  Brutus  ;  whom  by 
''  your  authority  I  embraced  with  inclination,  and 
**  began  even  to  love  :  but*        what  am  I  going  to 

"  say?  I  recall  myself,  lest  I  offend  you do  not 

"  think,  that  I  ever  entered  into  any  tliin<r  more 
"  willingly,  or  took  more  pains,  than  in  what  he 
"  recommended  to  me.  He  gave  me  a  memorial 
"  of  the  particulars,  which  you  had  talked  over 
"  with  me  before  :  I  pursued  your  instructions  ex- 
"  actly  :  in  the  first  place,  I  pressed  Ariobarzanes, 
"to  give  that  money  to  Brutus,  which  he  pro- 
*'  mised  to  me  :  as  long  as  the  king  continued  witli 
'•  me,  all  thino^s  looked  well,  but  he  was  afterwards 
**  teazed  by  six  hundred  of  Pompey's  airents  ;  and 


192  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  vii 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcdlus. 


"  Pompey,  for  other  reasons,  can  do  more  with  him 
"  than  all  the  world  besides ;  but  especially,  when  it 
"  is  imagined  that  he  is  to  be  sent  to  the  Parthian 
"  war :  they  now  pay  Pompey  thirty-three  Attick  ta- 
"  lents  per  month,  out  of  the  taxes,  though  this  falls 
^'  short  of  a  month's  interest :  but  our  friend  Cnaeus 
''  takes  it  calmly  ;  and  is  content  to  abate  some- 
"  what  of  the  interest,  without  pressing  for  the 
"  principal.  As  to  others,  he  neither  does,  nor  can 
"  pay  any  man  :  for  he  has  no  treasury,  no  reve- 
"  nues ;  he  raises  taxes  by  Appius's  methud  of  ca- 
"  pitation  :  but  these  are  scarce  sufficient  for  Pom- 
"  pey's  monthly  pay :  two  or  three  of  the  king's 
"  friends  are  very  rich  ;  but  they  hold  their  own 
"  as  closely  as  either  you  or  I — I  do  not  forbear, 
"  however,  to  ask,  urge,  and  chide  him  by  let- 
"  ters :  king  Deiotarus  also  told  me,  that  he  had 
"  sent  people  to  him  on  purpose  to  solicit  for  Bru- 
"  tus ;  but  they  brought  him  word  back,  that  he 
"  had  really  no  money  :  which  1  take  indeed  to  be 
"  the  case  ;  that  nothing  is  more  drained  than  his 
*'  kingdom  ;  nothing  poorer  than  the  king."^  But 
Brutus  had  recommended  another  affair  of  the 
same  natur'^  to  Cicero,  which  gave  him  much  more 
trouble.  The  city  of  Salamis  in  Cyprus  owed  to 
two  of  his  friends,  as  he  pretended,  Scaptius  and 
Matinius,  about  twenty  thousand  pounds  Sterling, 
upon  bond,  at  a  most  extravagant  interest ;  and  he 
begged  of  Cicero  to  take  their  persons  and  con- 
cerns under  his  special  protection.  Appius,  who 
was  Brutus's  father-in-law,  had  granted  every  thing 
which  was  asked  to  Scaptius  ;  a  praefecture  in  Cy- 
prus, with   some  troops   of  horse,   with  which   he 

f^^  Ad  Att.  6.  1. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  19ii 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Sen'.  Sulpic'us  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Matcellus. 


miserably  harassed  the  poor  Salamniians,  in  order 
to  force  them  to  comply  with  his  unreasonable  de- 
mands ;  for  he  shut  up  their  whole  senate  in  the 
council-room,  till  five  of  them  were  starved  to 
death  with  huni^er.'*  Brutus  laboured  to  place 
him  in  the  same  de2;ree  of  favour  with  Cicero  :  but 
Cicero,  being  informed  of  this  violence  at  Ephe- 
sus,  by  a  deputation  from  Salamis,  made  it  the 
first  act  of  his  orovernment  to  recall  the  troops 
from  Cyprus,  and  put  an  end  to  Scaptius's  prae- 
fecture,  having  laid  it  down  for  a  rule,  to  grant  no 
command  to  any  man,  who  was  concerned  in  trade, 
or  negociating  money  in  the  province :  to  give  sa- 
tisfaction however  to  Brutus,  he  injoined  the  Sala- 
minians  to  pay  off  Scaptius's  bond,  whicli  tliey 
were  ready  to  do  according  to  the  tenour  of  his 
edict,  by  w'hich  he  had  ordered,  that  no  bonds  in 
his  province  should  carry  above  one  per  cent,  by 
the  month.  Scaptius  refused  to  take  the  money 
on  those  terms,  insisting  on  four  per  cent,  as  the 
condition  of  his  bond  expressed ;  wdiich  by  com- 
putation almost  doubled  the  principal  sum ;  while 
the  Salaminians,  as  they  protested  to  Cicero,  could 
not  have  paid  the  original  debt,  if  they  had  not 
been  enabled  to  do  it  by  his  help,  and  out  of  his 
own  dues  that  he  had  remitted  to  them  ;  which 
amounted  to  somewhat  more  than  Scaptius's  legal 
demand. t 


*  Fuerat  enira  praefectus  Appio,  ct  quidem  hahuerat  turmas  equi- 
tiira,  quibus  inclusum  iu  curia  senatuin  Salamiiie  obsederat,  nt  lame 
senatores  qiiinque  inorereiitur. — Ibid. 

t  Itaqiie  ego,  quo  die  tetisji  proviiiciam,  cuin  milii  Cyprii  Icgati 
Ephesuiu  obviam  vcuisseut,  literas  iiiisi,  iit  eqiiites  ex  insula  statiiu 
decederent — Ad  Att.  6.  1.  confeceram,   ut  solvercnt  centesimis — at 


VOL.  ir,  25 


194  THE    LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Uib.  702.    Cic  55.  Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marc  ellus. 


Tliis  extortion  raised   Cicero's  indignation  ;  and 
notwithstanding  the  repeated  instances  of  Brutus 
and  Atticus,    he  was  determined  to  overrule  it ; 
though  Brutus,  in  order  to  move  him  the  more  ef- 
fectually, thought  proper  to  confess,  Avhat  he  had 
all  along  dissembled,  that  the  debt  was  really  his 
own,  and  Scaptius  only  his  agent  in  it.^     This  sur- 
prised Cicero   still  more,    and  though  be   had  a 
warm  inclination  to  oblige  Brutus,  yet  he  could 
not  consent  to  so  flagrant  an  injustice,  but  makes 
frequent  and  heavy  complaints  of  it  in  his  letters 
to  Atticus — ''  You  have  now,  (says  he,  in  one  of 
« them,)   the  ground   of    my   conduct ;  if  Brutus 
"does  not  approve  i1,  I  see    no   reason  why  we 
"  should  love  ;  but  I  am  sure,  it  will  be  approved 
"  by  his  uncle,  Cato."t     In  another :  "  If  Brutus 
'^  thinks  that  I  ought  to  allow  him  four  per  cent, 
»^when  by  edict  1   have  decreed  but  one  through 
"all  the  province,  and  that  to  the  satisfaction  of 
"  the   keenest  usurers ;  if  he  complains,  that  I  de- 
'*  nied  a  praefecture  to  one  concerned  in  trade, 
"  which  I  denied,    for  that  reason,    and  to  your 
"friend  Lenius,  and  to  Sex.  Statins,  though  Tor- 
"  quatus  solicited  for  the  one,  and  Pompey  him- 
"  self  for  the  other,  yet  without  disgusting  either 


Scaptius  quaternas  postulabat — lb.  homines  non  modo  non  recusare, 
sted  etiam  dicere,  se  a  me  solvere.  Quod  enim  praetori  dare  coiisues- 
seut,  quoriiam  ego  non  acceperam,  se  a  me  quodam  raodo  dare  ;  atque 
etinm  minus  esse  aliquanto  in  Scaptii  nomine,  qiiani  in  vectigali  prae- 
torio— lb.  5.  21. 

*  Atque  hoc  tempore  ipso  injpingit  raihi  epistolara  Scaptias  Bruti, 
rem  illam  sno  periculo  esse  :  quod  nee  m.hi   iinquam  Brutus  dixerat, 

nee  tibi lb.  nunquam  ex  illo  audivi  illam  pecuniam  esse  suara 

—lb. 

t  Habes  raeam  rausara  :  quae   si    Bruto  non  probatur,  nescio  cur 
ilium  amemus  :  sedavuuculo  ejuscerte  probabitur.— -lb.  5.  21. 


)SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  I9b 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Seiv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


'^  of  them ;  if  he  takes  it  ill  that  I  recalled  the 
"  troops  of  horse  out  of  Cyprus,  I  shall  he  sorry, 
"  indeed,  that  he  has  any  occasion  to  be  ano^ry  with 
"  me  ;  but  much  more,  not  to  find  him  the   man 

"  that  I  took  him  to  be. 1  would   have  you  to 

''  know,  however,  that  I  have  not  fori^ot  what  you 
"  intimated  to  me  in  several  of  your  letters,  that  if 
''  I  brout^ht  back  nothing  else  from  the  province, 
"  but  Brutus's  friendship,  that  would  be  enou<j;h  : 
''  let  it  be  so,  since  you  will  have  it  so  ;  yet  it  must 
"  always  be  Avith  this  exception ;  as  far  as  it  can  be 
"  done,  without  my  committing;  any  wrono;." — ^ 
In  a  third  :  "  How,  my  dear  Atticus  ?  you  who  ap- 
'*  plaud  my  integrity  and  good  conduct,  and  are 
'^  vexed  sometimes,  you  say,  that  you  are  not  with 
''  me ;  how  can  such  a  thing,  as  Ennius  says,  come 
"  out  of  your  mouth,  to  desire  me  to  grant  troops 
'*  to  Scaptius,  for  the  sake  of  extorting  money  ? 
"  could  you,  if  you  were  with  me,  suffer  me  to  do 

"it,  if  I  would? if  I  really  had  done  such  a 

"  thing,  with  what  face  could  I  ever  read  again,  or 
"  touch  those  books  of  mine,  with  which  you  are 
*'  so  much  pleased  ?"t     He   tells  him  likewise,  in 

*  Si  Brutus  putabat  me  quaternas  centesiraas  oportuisse  decernere, 
qui  ill  tola  provincia  singulas  observarem,  itaque  edixissem,  idque 
etiara  acerbissimis  loeneratoribus  probaretur ;  si  praefecturam  iiego- 
tiatori  denegatam  queretur,  quod  ego  Torquato  noslro  in  tuo  Lenio, 
Pompeio  ipsi  in  S.  Statio  negavi,  et  iis  probavi  ;  si  equites  deductos 
inoleste  feret ;  accipiara  equidem  dolorem,  mihi  ilium  irasci,  sed 
multo  raajorera,  non  esse  eum  talem,  qualem  putassem— Sed  plane  te 
intelligere  volui,  milii  non  excidisse  illud  quod  tu  ad  rae  quibusdam 
Jitteris  scripsisses,  si  nihil  aliud  de  hac  Provincia  nisi  illiu?  benevolen- 
tiam  dcportassem,  niihi  id  satis  esse.  Sit  sane,  qiioniam  ita  tu  vis  sed 
tamen  cum  eo  credo,  quod  sine  peccato  meo  fiat — lb.  6.  1. 

f  Ain'  tandem  Attice,  laudator  integritatis  et  elegantiae  nostrac? 
ausus  es  hoc  ex  ore  tuo,  inquit  Fn.uius,  ut  equites  Hcaptio  ad  pecuni- 
ara  cogendam  darcm.  me  rogare  ?  an  tu,  si  mecum  esses,  qui  scribis 
aiordcri   te  interdum  quod  non    simul  sis,  paterere  rae  id  iacere,  si 


196  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  702.    Ci^o  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

confidence,  that  all  Brutus's  letters  to  him,  even 
when  he  was  asking  favours,  "  were  unmannerly, 
"  churlish,  and  arrogant ;  without  regarding  either 
"  what  or  to  whom  he  was  writing ;  and  if  he  con- 
''  tinned  in  that  humour  ;  you  may  love  him  alone," 
says  he,  "  if  you  please,  you  shall  have  no  rival 
"  in  me;  but  he  will  come,  I  believe,  to  a  better 
'*  mind."^  But  to  shew,  after  all,  what  a  real  in- 
clination he  had  to  oblige  him,  he  never  left  urging 
king  Ariobarzanes,  till  he  had  squeezed  from  him  a 
hundred  talents,  in  part  of  Brutus's  debt,  or  about 
twenty  thousand  pounds  ;  the  same  sum  probably, 
which  had  been  destined  to  Cicero  himself.f 

While  he  lay  encamped  in  Cappadocia,  expect- 
ing what  way  the  Parthians  would  move,  he  receiv- 
ed an  account,  that  they  had  taken  a  different  route, 
and  were  advanced  to  Antioch  in  Syria,  where  they 
held  C.  Cassius  blocked  up ;  and  that  a  detachment 
of  thetu  had  actually  penetrated  into  Cilicia,  but 
were  routed  and  cut  off  by  those  troops  which  were 
left  to  guard  the  country.  Upon  this  he  presently 
decamped,  and  by  great  journies  over  mount  Tau- 
rus, marcheii  in  all  haste  to  possess  himself  of  the 
passes  of  Amanus  ;  a  great  and  strong  mountain, 

vellem  ? et  ego  andebo  legere  iinqiiara,  aut  atUngere,  eos   iibros 

qiips  til  dilaudas  ?  si  tale  quid  fecero — Ad  Att.  6.  2. 

*  Ad  me  etiam,  cum  rogat  aliquid,  contumaeiter,  arroganter,  euoiv- 
muTUJiSolet  scribere lb.  6. 1. 

Oranitio  (soli  enim  suraiis)  nullus  unquam  ad  me  litteras  misit  Bru- 
tus— in  quibus  non  esset  arrogates,  oiKoivaiv»Tov  aliquid  —in  quo  tamen 
ille  mihi  risuin  magis  quam  stora'achura  movere  solet.  Sed  plane  pa- 
rum  cogitat,  quid  scribat,  aut  ad  quern — lb.  6.  3. 

f  Brnti  tui  causa,  ut  saepe  ad  te  scripsi,   feci  omnia — Ariobarzanes ' 

non  in  Pompcium  prolixior  per  ipsura,  quam  per  me  in  Brutuin 

pro  ratione  pecuniae  liberius  est  Brutus  tractatus,  quam  Pompeins, 
Bruto  ciirata  hoc  anno  talenta  circiter  c.  Pompeio  in  sex  mensibus 
promissa  cc. Ibid. 


SECT.  vii.  CICERO.  197 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

lying  between  Syria  and  Cilicia,  and  the  common 
boundary  of  them  both.  By  this  march,  and  the 
approach  of  liis  army  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Sy- 
ria, the  Parthians  being  discouraged,  retired  from 
Antioch ;  which  gave  Cassius  an  opportunity  of  fall- 
ing upon  them  in  their  retreat,  and  gaining  a  con- 
siderable advantage,  in  which  one  of  their  principal 
commanders,  Osaces,  was  mortally  wounded.^ 

In  the  suspense  of  the  Parthian  war,  which  the 
late  disgrace  of  Crassus  had  made  terrible  at  Rome, 
Cicero's  friends,  who  had  no  great  opinion  of  his 
military  talents,  were  in  some  pain  for  his  safety 
and  success  :  but  now  that  he  found  himself  engag- 
ed, and  pushed  to  the  necessity  of  acting  the  gene- 
ral, he  seems  to  have  wanted  neither  the  courage 
nor  conduct  of  an  experienced  leader.  In  a  let- 
ter to  Atticus,  dated  from  his  camp ;  "  We  are 
"  in  great  spirits,"  says  he  ''  and  as  our  councils 
"  are  good,  have  no  distrust  of  an  engagement : 
*'  we  are  securely  encamped,  with  plenty  of  pro- 
"  visions,  and  in  sight  ahaost  of  Cilicia ;  with  a 
"  small  army  indeed,  but,  as  I  have  reason  to  be- 
"  lieve,  entirely  well  affected  lo  me  ;  which  I  shall 
'*  double  by  the  accession  of  Deiotarus,  who  is 
"  upon  the  road  to  join  me :  I  have  the  allies  more 
'*  firmly  attached  to  me  than  any  governour  ever 
"  had :  they  are  wonderfully  taken  Avith  my  easi- 
"  ness  and  abstinence  :  we  are  making  new  levies 

*  Itaqiie  confestiin  iter  in  Ciliciam  feci  per  Tauri  pylas.  Tarsurn 
veni  a.  d.  ill.  Non.  Oct.  inde  ad  Ainanuiu  eontcndi,  qui  Syriain  a  Ci- 
licia in  aquarum  divortio  dividit — rumore  adventiis  nosti  i,  et  Cassio, 
qui  Antiochia  teuebatur,  animus  accessit,  et  Partliis  timor  ijijectus 
est.  Itaque  eos  cedentes  ab  oppido  Cassius  inseciitiis  rem  bene  ges- 
sit.  Qua  in  fuga  magna  auctoritate  Osaces,  dux  Parthorum,  vuTnus 
accepit,  eoque  interiil  paucis  post  diebus.     Ad  Att.  5.  20. 


THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 


A,  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss,— SeiT.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudixis  Marccllus. 

^'  of  citizens,  and  establishing  magazines  :  if  there 
^*  be  occasion  for  fighting,  we  shall  not  decline  it ;  if 
"  not,  shall  defend  ourselves  by  the  strength  of  our 
"  posts  :  wherefore  be  of  good  heart,  for  I  see  as 
*'  much  as  if  you  were  with  me,  the  sympathy  of 
"your  love  for  me."'* 

But  the  danger  of  the  Parthians  being  over  for 
this  season,  Cicero  resolved  that  his  labour  should 
not  be  lost,  and  his  army  dismissed,  without  at- 
tempting sometliing  of  moment.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  mountains,  close  to  which  he  now  lay,  were 
a  fierce,  untamed  race  of  banditti  or  freebooters, 
who  had  never  submitted  to  the  Roman  power, 
but  lived  in  perpetual  defiance  of  it,  trusting  to 
their  forts  and  castles,  which  were  supposed  to  be 
impregnable  from  the  strength  of  their  situation. 
He  thought  it^  therefore,  of  no  small  importance  to 
the  empire  to  reduce  them  to  a  state  of  subjec- 
tion ; '  and,  in  order  to  conceal  his  design,  and 
lake  them  unprovided,  he  drew  off  his  forces  on 
pretence  of  marching  to  the  distant  parts  of  Cili- 
cia ;  but  after  a  day's  journpy  stopt  short,  and 
having  refreshed  his  army,  and  left  his  baggage 
behind,  turned  back  again  in  the  night  with  the 
utmost  celeiity,  and  reached  Amanus  before  day 
on  the  thirteenth  of  October.  He  divided  his 
troops  among  his  four  lieutenants,  and  himself  ac- 
companied by  his  brother,  led  up  one  part  of 
them,  and  so  coming  upon  the  natives  by  sur- 
prise, they  easily  killed,  or  made  them  all  prison- 
ers :  they  took  six  strong  forts,  and  burned  many 
more ;  but  the  capital  of  the  mountain,  Erana, 
made  a  brave  resistance,  and  held  out  from  break 

*AdAtt.  5.  18. 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  199 


A.  Ufb.  702.    Cic.  36.    Coss.—Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellos. 

of  day,  to  four  in  the  afternoon.  Upon  this  suc- 
cess, Cicero  was  saluted  Kmperour,  and  sat  down 
aj^ain  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  where  he  spent  five 
days,  in  demolishing  the  other  strong  holds,  and 
wasting  the  lands  of  these  mountaineers.  In  this 
place  his  troops  were  lodged  in  the  same  camp 
which  Alexander  the  Great  had  formerly  used, 
when  he  beat  Darius  at  Issus ;  and  where  there  re- 
mained three  altars,  as  the  monument  of  his  victo- 
ry, which  bore  his  name  to  that  day  :  a  circum- 
stance, which  furnished  matter  for  some  pleasant- 
ry, in  his  letters  to  his  friends  at  Rome.^ 

From  Amanus,  he  led  his  array  to  another  part 
of  the  highlands,  the  most  disaffected  to  the  Roman 
name,  possessed  by  a  stout  and  free  people,  who 
had  never  been  subject  even  to  the  king  of  that 
country.  Their  chief  town  was  called  Pindenissum, 
situated  on  a  steep  and  craggy  hill,  strongly  fortified 
by  nature  and  art,  and  provided  with  every  thing 

*  Qui  mons  erat  hostium  plenus  serapiternorum.  Hie.  a.  d.  Ill, 
idus  Octob.  magnum  numerum  hostium  occidimus.  Castella  muoi- 
tissima,  nocturno  Pontinii  adventu,  uostro  matutino  cepiraus,  inceu- 
dimus,  Iniperatores  appellati  sumus.  Castra  paucos  dies  habui- 
mus.  ea  ipsa,  quae  contra  Darium  babueiat  apud  Issum  Alexander, 
Imuerator  baud  paullo  melior,  qiiam  aut  tu  aut  ego.  Ibi  dies  quin- 
que  morati,  direpto  et  vastato  Amauo,  inde  discessimus. — Ad  Att. 
5.  20. 

Expedite  exercitu  ita  nortu  iter  feci,  ut  ad  111.  Id.  Octob.  cum 
lucisceret,  in  Air.anum  ascenderem,  distributisque  cobortibus  et  aux- 
iliis,  cum  aliis  Quinius  iValer  legatus,  mecum  simul,  aliis  C.  Pontinius 
Legatus,  reliquis  AJ.  Anneius,  et  M.  Tullius  Jegati  praeessent :  pier- 
ostjue-  nee  opiuantes  oppressimus — Eianam  auteni,  quae  t'uit  non  viri 
in-tar.  sed  nrbi*^  quod  erat  Amana  caput — acritcr  et  diu  repugnanli- 
bus,  Pon.inio  illam  partem  Amani  tenente,  ex  antelucano  tempore 
usque  ad  linram  diei  decimam,  magna  raultitndine  hostium  occisa, 
ce^umus,  castellaque  sex  capta  :  complura  inceudimus.  His  rebus 
ita  gestis.  casira  in  radinbus  Aujaiii  habuimus  apud  aras  Alexandri 
quacriduum  ;  et  in  reliquiis  Aniani  deiendis,  agrisque  vastandis — id 
tempus  omne  consumsimus — Kp.  Fam.  15.  4.  vid.  Ibid.  2.  10, 


200  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Ser\%  Sulpicius  Kufus.    M.  CJaudius  Mareellus. 

necessary  for  defence :  it  was  the  constant  refuge 
of  all  deserters,  and  the  harbour  of  foreign  ene- 
mies, and  at  that  very  time  was  expecting  and  pre- 
pared to  receive  the  Parthians  :  Cicero,  resolving 
therefore  to  chastise  their  insolence,  and  bring  them 
under  the  Roman  yoke,  laid  seige  to  it  in  form  ;  and 
though  he  pushed  it  on  with  all  imaginable  vigour, 
and  a  continual  battery  of  his  engines,  yet  it  cost 
him  above  six  weeks  to  reduce  it  to  the  necessity 
of  surrendering  at  discretion.  The  inhabitants 
were  sold  for  slaves,  and  when  Cicero  was  writing 
the  account  from  his  tribunal,  he  had  already  raised 
about  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  by  that  sale  :  all 
the  other  plunder,  excepting  the  horses,  was  given 
to  the  soldiers.  In  his  letter  upon  it  to  Atticus, 
"  the  Pindenissians,"  says  he,  "  surrendered  to  me 
"  on  the  Saturnalia,  after  a  seige  of  seven-and-forty 
"  days :  but  what  the  plague,  you  will  say,  are 
"these  Pindenissians?  I  never  heard  of  their  name 
"  before. — How  can  I  help  that  ?  could  I  turn  Cilicia 
"  into  Aetolia  or  Macedonia  ?  take  this  however  for 
"  certain,  that  no  man  could  do  more  than  I  have 
"  done,  W'ith  such  an  army,  &c."*  After  this  action, 
another   neighbouring  nation^  of   the  same   spirit 


*  Confectis  his  rebus  ad  oppidum  Eleutherociliciim,  Pindenissum,  ex- 
ercituin  addiixi :  quod  cum  esset  altissiiiio  et  rnunitissimo  loco,  ab 
iisque  incoleretur,  qui  ue  regibus  quidera  unquam  paruissent ;  cura  et 
fugitivos  reciperent,  et  Parthorum  adventum  acerriine  expectarent : 
ad  existiraationem  imperii  pertiuere  arbitratus  sura  comprimere 
eorum  audaciam — vallo  et  fossa  circumdedi,  sex  castellis,  castrisque 
raaximis  sepsi,  aggere,  vineis,  turribus  oppugnavi,  ususque  tormentis 
multis,  multis  sagittariis,  magno  labore  meo — septimo  quad  rage  siino 
dieremconfeci.     Ep.  Fam.  15,  4. 

Qui  (malum)  isti  Pindenissae  ?  qui  sunt  ?  inquies  :  nomen  audivi 
nunquam.  Quid  ego  i'aciam  ?  potui  Ciliciam,  Aetoliam  aut  Macedo- 
niam  reddere  ?  hoc  jam  sic  habeto,  nee  hoc  exercitu  hie  tanla  nego- 
tia  geri  potuisse,  etc.     Ad  Att.  5.  20. 

Mancipia  vaenibant  Saturnalibus  tertiis,  cum  haec  scribebara  in  tri- 
bunali,  res  erat  ad  JI.  S.  cxx.     lb. 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  201 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


and  fierceness,  called  Tiburani,  terrified  by  the  fate 
of  Pindenissum,  voluntarily  submitted,  and  gave 
hostages;  so  that  Cicero  sent  his  army  into  winter 
quarters  under  the  command  of  his  brother,  into 
those  parts  of  the  province  which  were  thought  the 
most  turbulent.^ 

While  he  was  engaged  in  this  expedition,  Papi- 
rius  Paetus,  an  eminent  wit  and  Epicurean,  with 
whom  he  had  a  particular  intimacy  and  correspond- 
ence of  facetious  letters,  sent  him  some  military  in- 
structions in  the  way  of  raillery ;  to  which  Cicero 
answered  in  the  same  jocose  manner :  "  Your  let- 
'*  ter,"  says  he,  "  has  made  me  a  complete  command- 
"  er :  I  was  wholly  ignorant  before  of  your  oreat  skill 
"  in  the  art  of  war ;  but  perceive  that  you  have  read 
"Pyrrhiis  and  Cineas. — Wherefore  I  intend  to  fol- 
"  low  your  precepts,  and,  withal,  to  have  some  ships 
"in  readiness  on  the  coast;  for  they  deny  that 
"there  can  be  any  better  defeiice  against  the  Par- 
"  thian  horse.  But,  raillery  apart : — you  little  think 
"  what  a  general  you  have'to  deal  with  :  for,  in  this 
"government,  I  have  reduced  to  practice,  what  I 
"  had  worn  out  before  with  reading,  the  whole  in- 
"  stitution  of  Cyrus,"  &c.t  These  martial  exploits 
spread  Cicero's  fame  into  Syria,  where  Bibulus  was 
just  arrived  to  take  upon  him  the  command ;  but 
kept  himself  close  within  the  gates  of  Antioch,till 
the  country  was  cleared  of  all  the  Parthians :  his 
envv  of  Cicero's   success,    and   title  of  empermr. 


*  His  erant  finitimi  pari  scelere  et  audacia  Tiburani:  ab  his,  Piu- 
denisso  capio,  obsides  accepi,  exercitum  in  hiberna  dimisi.  Q  Fra- 
trein  negotio  preposui,  ut  in  vicis  aut  caplis  aiit  malo  paratis  exercitus 
collocaretur.     Ep.  Fain.  1.').4. 

t  Ep.  Fam.  9.  26. 

VOL.  II.  26 


t02  THE   LIFE   OF  gEci-.  vii- 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rtifus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

made  him  impatient  to  purchase  the  same  honour 
bj  the  same  service,  on  the  Syrian  side  of  the 
mountain  Amanus:  but  he  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  repulsed  in  his  attempt,  with  the  entire  loss  of 
the  first  cohort,  and  several  officers  of  distinction, 
which  Cicero  calls  an  ugly  blow,  both  for  the  time 
and  the  effect  of  it.* 

Thoufijh  Cicero  had  obtained  what  he  calls  a  just 
victory  at  Amanus,  and,  in  consequence  of  it,  the 
appellation  of  emperour,  which  he  assumed  from  this 
time ;  yet  he  sent  no  publick  account  of  it  to  Rome, 
till  after  the  affair  of  Pindenissum,  an  exploit  of 
more  eclat  and  importance  ;  for  which  he  expected 
the  honour  of  a  thanksgiving,  and  began  to  enter- 
tain hopes  even  of  a  triumph.  His  publick  letter 
is  lost,  but  that  loss  is  supplied  by  a  particular  nar- 
rative of  the  whole  action  in  a  private  letter  to 
Cato  :  the  design  of  paying  this  compliment  to  Cato, 
was  to  engage  his  vote  and  concurrence  to  the  de- 
cree of  the  supplication ;  and,  by  the  pains  which 
he  takes  to  obtain  it,  where  he  was  sure  of  gaining 
his  point  without  it,  shews  the  high  opinion  which 
he  had  of^Cato's  authority,  and  how  desirous  he 
was  to  have  the  testimony  of  it  on  his  side.  But 
Cato  was  not  to  be  moved  from  his  purpose  by  com- 
pliment, or  motives  of  friendship :  he  was  an  enemy 
by  principle  to  all  decrees  of  this  kind,  and  thought 
them  bestowed  too  cheaply,  and  prostituted  to  oc- 
casions unworthy  of  them  :  so  that  when   Cicero's 

*  Frat  in  Syria  nostrum  nomen  in  gratia.  Venit  interim  Bibulus. 
Credo  voluit  appellalione  hac  inani  nobis  esse  par.  In  eodem  Amano 
coepit  laureolam  in  mustaceo  quaerere.  At  i!le  cohortem  priniam  to- 
tam  perdidit — sane  plagam  odiosam  acceperat,  ti  m  re  turn  tempore. 
Ad  Att.  5.  20. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  203 

A.  Urb,  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

letters  came  under  deliberation,  thoujrh  he  spoke 
with  all  imaginable  honour  and  respect  of  Cicero, 
and  highly  extolled  both  his  civil  and  military  ad- 
ministration, yet  he  voted  against  the  supplication  ; 
which  waj*  decreed,  however,  without  any  other  dis- 
senting voice,  except  that  of  Favonius,  wlio  loved 
always  to  mimick  Cato,  and  of  Hirrus,  who  had  a 
personal  quarrel  with  Cicero  :  yet,  when  the  vote 
was  over,  Cato  himself  assisted  in  drawing  up  the 
decree,  and  had  his  name  inserted  in  it ;  which  was 
the  usual  mark  of  a  particular  approbation  of  the 
thing,  and  friendship  to  the  person  in  whose  favour 
it  passed. ^^  But  Calo's  ansAver  to  Cicero's  letter 
will  shew  the  temper  of  the  man,  and  the  grounds 
on  which  he  acted  on  this  occasion. 


M.  Cato  to  M.  T.  Cicero,  Emperour. 

"  In  compliance  with  what  both  the  republick 
"  and  our  private  friendship  require  of  me,  I  re- 
"joicethat  your  virtue,  innocence,  diligence,  ap- 
"  proved  in  the  greatest  affairs,  exerts  itself  every 
"  where  w  ith  equal  vigour ;  at  home  in  the  gown, 
"  abroad  in  arms.  I  did  all,  therefore,  that  I  could 
"  do,  agreeably  to  my  own  judgment,  when,  in  my 
"  vote  and  speech,  I  ascribed  to  your  innocence 

*  Nunc  publice  litteras  Romam  raittere  parabam.  Uberiores  erunt, 
quam  si  ex  Amano  misissera.     Ibid. 

Deinde  de  triumpho,  quern  video,  nisi  Reipub.  terapora  impedient, 
vjTrogKTTOv ,     Ad  Att.,  7.  1. 

El  poiTO  assensus  est  uuus,  farailiaris  raeus  Favonius;  alter  iratus 
Hirrus.     Cato  autem  et  scribendoaffiiit.     lb. 

Res  ipsa  declarat,  tibi  ilium  lionorem  supplicationis  jucundum 
fuisse,  quod  scribendo  affuisti.  Haec  euira  senatus  consulta  uon  ig- 
noro  ab  amicissimis  ejus,  CHJus  de  honore  agitur,  scribi  selere.  Ep, 
Fam.  15.  6. 


204  THE    LIFE   OF  sect.   vii. 


A.  Urb.  702.  Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

"  and  2;ood  conduct  the  defence  of  your  province, 
*«  the  safety  of  the  kino;dom  and  person  of  Ario- 
"  barzanes ;  the  recovery  of  the  allies  to  their  du- 
«'  ty  and  affection  to  our  empire.  I  am  glad,  however, 
«'  that  a  supplication  is  decreed  ;  if,  where  chance 
««  had  no  part,  but  the  whole  was  owing  to  your 
*'  consummate  prudence  and  moderation,  you  are 
"  better  pleased  that  we  sliould  hold  ourselves  in- 
<'  debted  to  the  gods,  than  to  you.  But  if  you  think 
«*  that  a  supplication  will  pave  the  way  to  a  tri- 
''  umph,  and  for  that  reason  chose  that  fortune  should 
'*  have  the  praise,  rather  than  yourself;  yet  a  tri- 
**  umph  does  not  always  follow  a  supplication,  and 
4'  it  is  much  more  honourable  than  any  triumph, 
*'  for  the  senate  to  decree,  that  a  province  is  pre- 
''  served  to  the  empire  by  the  mildness  and  inno- 
«'  cence  of  the  general,  rather  than  by  the  force  of 
"  arms,  and  the  favour  of  the  gods.  This  was  the 
"  purpose  of  my  vote  ;  and  I  have  now  employed 
''  more  words  than  it  is  my  custom  to  do,  that  you 
"  might  perceive,  what  I  chiefly  wish  to  testify, 
<'  how  desirous  I  am  to  convince  you,  that,  in  re- 
"  gard  to  your  glory,  I  had  a  mind  to  do  what  I 
"  took  to  b«  the  most  honourable  for  you  ;  yet  re- 
"  joice  to  see  that  done  which  you  are  the  most 
"  pleased  with.  Adieu,  and  still  love  me ;  and, 
'•  agreeably  to  the  course  which  you  have  begun, 
"continue  your  integrity  and  diligence  to  the  allies, 
*'  and  the  republick."^' 

Caesar  was  deli^iited,  to  hear  of  Cato's  stiffness, 
in  hopes  that  it  would  create  a  coldness  between 
him  and  Cicero ;  and,  in  a  congratulatory  letter  to 

*  Ep.  Fam.  15.  5. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  205 

A.  Urb.  70a    €ie.  56.    Coss.— Serr.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    ]M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


Cicero,  upon  the  success  of  his  arms,  and  Ihe  sup- 
plication decreed  to  him,  took  care  to  aggravate  the 
rudeness  and  ino;ratitude  of  Cato.*  Cicero  himself 
was  hii{hl y  dissjusted  at  it ;  especially  when  Cato 
soon  afterwards  voted  a  supplication  to  his  son-in- 
law,  Bibulus,  who  had  done  much  less  to  deserve 
it.  "  Cato,"  says  he,  *'  was  shamefully  malicious ; 
"  he  gave  me  what  I  did  not  ask,  a  character  of 
"  integrity,  justice,  clemency  ;  but  denied  me  what 
"  I  did — yet  this  same  man  voted  a  supplication  of 
"  twenty  days  to  Bibulus :  pardon  me  if  I  cannot 
"  bear  this  usage — "f  vet  as  he  had  a  good  opinion 
of  Cato  in  the  main,  and  a  farther  suit  to  make  to 
the  senate,  in  the  demand  of  a  triumph,  he  chose 
to  dissemble  his  resentment,  and  returned  him  a 
civil  answer,  to  signify  his  satisfaction  and  thanks 
for  what  he  had  thought  fit  to  do.J 

Cicero's  campaign  ended  just  so  as  Caelius  had 
wished  in  one  of  his  letters  to  him ;  with  fi>diting 
enough  to  give  a  claim  to  the  laurel ;  yet  without 
the  risk  of  a  battle  with  the  Parthians.J  During 
these  months  of  action,  he  sent  away  the  two  young 
Ciceros,  the  son  and  nephew,  to  king  Deiotarus's 

*  Itaque  Caesar  iis  litteris,  qiiibus  mihi  gratiilatur,  et  omnia  polli- 
cetur,  quo  modo exultat  Catonis  in  me  ingratissimi  injuria;  Ad  Att. 
7.  2. 

f  Aveo  scire — Cato  quid  agat :  qui  qiiidem  in  me  turpiter  fuit  male- 
volus.     Dedit  integritatis,  justitiae,  clementiae,    fidei,    testimonium, 

quod    non    quaerebarn,    quod   postulaham,    negavit at    hie    idem 

Bibulo  dierum  viginti.     Ignosee  mihi,  non   possum   haec   ferre 

ibid. 

JEp.  Fam.  15.6. 

$  Ut  optasti,  ita  est ;  velles  enim,  ais,  tantummodo  ut  haberem 
ucgotii  quodesset  ad  laiireolum  «atis.  Partbos  times,  quia  diffidis  co^ 
piis  uostris.     Ep.  Fam.  2.  10.  3.  5. 


206  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  702.     Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

court,  under  the  conduct  of  the  kinor's  son,  who 
came  on  purpose  to  invite  them :  they  were  kept 
strictly  to  their  books  and  exercises,  and  made 
great  proficiency  in  both  ;  though  the  one  of  them, 
as  Cicero  says,  wanled  the  bit,  the  other  the  spur. 
Their  tutor  Dionysius  attended  them,  a  man  of  i^reat 
learning  and  probity,  but,  as  his  young  pupils  com- 
plained, horribly  passionate.*  Deiotarus  himself 
was  setting  forward  to  join  Cicero  with  all  his  for- 
ces, upon  the  first  news  of  the  Parthian  irruption : 
he  had  with  him  thirty  cohorts,  of  four  hundred 
men  each,  armed  and  disciplined  after  the  Roman 
manner,  with  two  thousand  horse  ;  but  the  Parthian 
alarm  being  over,  Cicero  sent  couriers  to  meet  him 
on  the  road,  in  order  to  prevent  his  marching  to  no 
purpose  so  far  from  his  own  dominions  if  the  old 
king  however  seems  to  have  brought  the  children 
back  again  in  person,  for  the  opportunity  of  pay- 
ing his  compliments,  and  spending  some  time  with 
his  friend  ;  for  by  what  Cicero  intimates,  they  ap- 
pear to  have  had  an  interview.J 

The  remaining  part  of  Cicero's  government  was 
employed^^n  the    civil    affairs   of   the  province: 

*  Cicerones  nostros  Deiotarus  filius,  qui  Rex  a  senatu  appellatus  est, 
secum  in  regnura.  Dura  in  aestivis  nos  essemus,  ilium  pueris  locum 
esse  bellissimum  duximus.     Ad  Att.  5.  17, 

Cicerones  pueri  amant  inter  se,  discunt,  exercentur :  sed  alter — 
fraenis  eget,  alter  calcaribus — Dionysius  mihi  quidem  in  anioribus 
est-  Pueri  autem  aiunt  eum  furenter  irasci.  Sed  homo  uec  doctior, 
nee  sanctior  fieri  potest.     lb.  6.  1. 

f  Mihi  tamen  cum  Deiotaro  fconvenit,  ut  ille  in  meis  castris  esset 
cum  omnibus  suis  copiis.  habet  autem  cohortes  quadringenarias  nostra 
armatura  triginta;  equitum  duo  millia — ib. 

Deiotarum  confestim  jam  ad  me  venientem  cum  magno  et  firmo 
equitatu  et  peditatu,  et  cum  omnibus  suis  copiis,  certiorem  feci,  non 
videri  esse  causam  cur  abesseta  regno — Ep.  Fam.  15.  4. 

1  Deiotarus  mihi  narravit,  etc.  Ad  Att.  6.  1.  5.  21. 


8ECT.  VII. 


CICERO.  2or 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Riifus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

where  his  whole  care  was,  to  ease  the  several  cities 
and   districts  of  that  excessive  load  of  debts  in 
which   the   avarice    and  rapaciousness   of   former 
S^overnours  had  involved   them.     He  laid  it  down 
for  the  fixed  rule  of  his  administration,  not  to  suf- 
fer any  money  to  be  expended  either  upon  himself 
or  his  officers:  and  when  one  of  his  lieutenants,  L. 
TuUius,  in  passing  through  the  country,  exacted 
only  the  forage  and  firing,  which  was  due  by  law, 
and   that  but  once  a  day,  and  not,  as  all  others 
had  done  before,   from   every   town' and   village 
through  which  they  passed,  he  was  much  out  of  hu- 
mour, and  could  not  help  complaining  of  it  as  a 
stain  upon  his  government,  since  none  of  his  peo- 
ple besides  had  taken  even  a  single  farthing.     All 
the  wealthier  cities  of  the  province  used  to  pay  to 
all  their  proconsuls  large  contributions,  for  being 
exempted  from  furnishing  winter-quarters  to  the 
army :  Cyprus  alone  paid  yearly,  on   this   single 
account,  two  hundred  talents,  or  about  forty  thou- 
sand pounds :  but  Cicero  remitted  tliis  whole  tax 
to  them,  which  alone  made  a .  vast  revenue  ;  and 
applied  all  the  customary  perquisites  of  his  office 
to  the  relief  of  the  oppressed  province  :  yet,  for 
all  his  services  and  generosity,  which  amazed  the 
poor  people,    he   would   accept   no    honours  but 
what  were  merely  verbal ;  prohibiting  all  expen- 
sive monuments,  as  statues,  temples,  biazen  horses, 
&c.  which,  by  the   flattery   of  Asia,    used  to  be 
erected,  of  course,  to  all  governours,  though  ever 
so  corrupt  and  oppressive.     AYhile  he  was  upon 
his  visitation  of  tlie  Asiatick  districts,  there   hap- 
pened to  be  a  kind  of  famine  in  the  country ;  yet 
wherever  he  came,  he  not  only  provided  for  his 
family  at  his  own  expense,  but  prevailed  with  the 


208  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A,  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

merchants  and  dealers,  who  had  any  quantity  of 
corn  in  their  storehouses,  to  supply  the  people 
with  it  on  easy  terms  f  living  himself,  all  the 
while,  splendidly  and  hospitably,  and  keeping  an 
open  table,  not  only  for  all  the  Roman  officers, 
but  the  gentry  of  the  province.f  In  the  following 
letter  to  Atticus,  he  gives  him  a  summary  view 
of  his  manner  of  governing. 

^'  I  see,"  says  he,  "  that  you  are  much  pleased 
"  with  my  moderation  and  abstinence  ;  but  you 
"  would  be  much  more  so  if  you  were  with  me, 
"  especially  at  Laodicea,  where  I  did  wonders  at 
"  the  sessions,  which  I  have  just  held,  for  the  af- 
"  fairs  of  the  dioceses,  from  the  thiileenth  of  Feb- 
*'  ruary  to  the  first  of  May.  Many  cities  are  wholly 
"freed  from  all  their  debts,  many  greatly  eased, 
"and  all,  by  being  allowed  to  govern  themselves 
"  by  their  own  laws,  have  recovered  new  life. 
*^  There  are  two  ways  by  which  I  have  put  them 


*  Cave  pntcs  quicquamhomines  magis  unquara  esse  miratos,  quara 
nullum  teruiiciuin,  me  obtinenle  provinciam,  sumtus  factum  esse, 
nee  in  Uemp>»ec  in  quemquam  meorum,  praeterquara  in  L.  Tulli- 
iim,  legatum.  Is  caeteroqui  abstinens  (sed  Julia  lege  transitans,  semel 
tanien  in  diem,  r.on  nt  alii  solel-ant  omnibus  vicis)  facit  ut  mihi 
excipiendus  sit,  cum  teruncium  nego  sumtus  factum.  Fraeter  eum 
accepit  nemo.  Has  sordes  a  nosJro  U.  Titinio  accepimus. — Ad 
Alt.  .'^.21. 

Civitates  locupletcs,  ne  in  hiberna  milites  reciperent,  magnas  pe- 
cunias  dabant.  Cyprii  talenta  Attica  cc.  Qua  ex  insula  (non 
v7n^0oKi>ta>i  sed  verissime  loquor)  nummus  nullus  me  obtinente  ero- 
o-abitur.  Ob  haec  beueficia,  quibus  obstupescunt,  nullos  honores 
mihi,   nisi  verborum,    decerni   sino.      Statuas,  fana,   TiQ^tTTTTA,   prohi- 

beo.     lb.  '  .  ■      ^ 

Fames,  quae  erat  in  liac  mea  Asia,  mihi  optanda  luerit.  Quacun- 
que  iter  feci,  nulla  vi, — auctoritate  et  cohortatione  perfeci,  ut  et 
Graeci  et  cives  Romani,  qui  fiumentum  compresserunt,  magnum  nu- 
merum  populis  pollicerentur.     lb. 

f  Ita  vivara  ut  maximos  sumptus  facio.  Mirlfice  delector  hoc  in- 
stitiito.     Ad  Att.  5.  \5. 


SECT.  vit.  CICERO.  209 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  56.    Coss.—Senr.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  MarcellUs. 


'*into  a  capacity   of  freeins;,  or  of  easing  them- 
"  selves,  at  least,  of  their  debts ;  the  one  is,  by 
"  suffering  no  expense  at  all  to  be  made  on  the 
"  account  of  my  government.     When  I  say  none 
"  at  all,  I  speak  not  hyperbolically  ;  there  is  not 
''  so  much  as  a  farthing  :  it  is  incredible  to  think 
"  what   relief  they    have  found  from   this    single 
"  article.      The  other   is  this ;   their   own    Greek 
''magistrates  had  strangely  abused  and  plundered 
"  them.     I  examined  every  one  of  them,  who  had 
"  borne  any  office  for  ten  years  past :  they    all 
"  plainly  confessed  ;  and,  without  the  ignominy  of 
"  a  publick  conviction,  made  restitution  of  the  mo- 
"  ney  which  they  had  pillaged :  so  that  the  people, 
"  who  had  paid  nothing  to  our  farmers  for  the  pre- 
"  sent  lustrum,  have  now  paid  the  arrears  of  the 
''  last,  even  without  murmuring.     This  has  placed 
*'me  in  high  favour  with  the  publicans ;  a  grateful 
'*  set  of  men,  you'll  say  :  T  have  really  found  them 
*'  such  :  The  rest  of  my  jurisdiction  shall  be  ma- 
''naged   with   the    same   address;  and  create    the 
"  same  admiration  of  my  clemency  and  easiness. 
"  There  is  no  difficulty  of  access  to  me,  as  there 
*'  is  to  all  other  provincial  governours ;  no  intro- 
'*'  duction  b}^^   my    chamberlain :    1   am  always   up 
'-before  day,  and   walking  in   my  hall,  with  my 
"'  doors  open,  as  I  used  to  do,  when  a  candidate  at 
'^  Rome :  this  is  great  and  gracious  here  ;  though 
"not  at  all  troublesome  to  me,  from  m}'  old  habit 
*'  and  discipline,"  kc,^ 

This  method  of  governing  gave  no  small  um- 
brage to  Appius  ;  who  considered  it  as  a  reproach 

^  Ad  AU.  f).   2. 
VOL»     IT,  27 


210  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.    vii. 

4.  Urb.  702.    Cie.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Rlarcellu* 

upon  himself,  and  sent  several  querulous  letters  to 
Cicero,  because  he  had  reversed  some  of  his  con- 
stitutions :  "  And  no  wonder,"  says  Cicero,  ''  that 
*'  he  is  displeased  with  my  manner,  for  what  can  be 
"  more  unlike,  than  his  administration  and  mine  ? 
"  under  him,  the  province  was  drained  by  expen- 
"  ses  and  exactions  ;  under  me,  not  a  penny  levied 
"  for  publick  or  private  use :  what  shall  I  say  of 
''  his  praefects,  attendants,  lieutenants  ?  of  their 
*'  plunders,  rapines,  injuries  ?  Avhereas  now,  there 
"  is  not  a  single  family  governed  with  such  order, 
"  discipline,  and  modesty,  as  my  province.  This 
'^  some  of  Appius's  friends  interpret  ridiculously ; 
"  as  if  I  was  taking  pains  to  exalt  my  own  cha- 
"  racter,  in  order  to  depress  his ;  and  doing  all  this, 
"  not  for  the  sake  of  my  own  credit,  but  of  his  dis- 
"  grace."*  But  the  truth  was,  that,  from  the  time 
of  his  reconciliation  with  Appius,  he  had  a  sincere 
desire  to  live  on  good  terms  with  him;  as  well 
out' of  regard  to  the  splendour  of  his  birth,  and 
fortunes,  as  to  his  great  alliances ;  for  one  of  his 
daughters  was  married  to  Pompey's  son,  and  an- 
other to  Brutus  :t  so  that,  though  their  principles 
and  max44?is  were  totally  different,  yet  he  took 
care  to  do  every  thing  with  the  greatest  profes- 
sions of  honour  and  respect  towards  Appius,  even 
when  he  found  it  necessary  to  rescind  his  decrees; 


*  Quid  enim  potest  esse  tarn  dissiraile,  quam  illo  imperante,  ex- 
haustam  esse  sumptibus  et  jacturis  provinciam,  nobis  earn  obtinenti- 
bus,  nummura  nullum  esse  erogatum  nee  privatira  nee  publico,  etc. — 
lb.  6.  1. 

f  Ego  Appium,  ut  tecum  sacpe  locutus  sum,  valde  diligo.  Mequeab 
eo  diligi  statina  coeptum  esse,  ut  siaiultalem  doposnimus,  sensi-jam  me 
Pompeii  totum  esse  scis  :  Brutuai  a  me  amari  intelJigis.  Quid  est 
causae,  cur  mihi  non  in  optatis  est  complecti  hominem,  fiorentem 
aetate,  opibus,  honoribus,  ingenio,  liberis.  propinquis,  affinibus.-ami- 
cis. Ep.  Fam  2.  13, 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  211 

A.  Urb,  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpic'us  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus- 

considering  himself  only,  he  says,  as  a  second  phy- 
sician called  in  to  a  case  of  sickness,  where  he 
found  it  necessary  to  change  the  method  of  cure, 
and,  when  the  patient  had  been  brought  low  by 
evacuations,  and  bloodletting,  to  apply  all  kinds  of 
lenitive  and  restoring  medicines."^' 

As  soon  as  the  government  of  Cilicia  was  allot- 
ted to  him,  he  acquainted  Appius  with  it  by  let- 
ter, begging  of  him,  that,  as  no  man  could  succeed 
to  it  with  a  more  friendly  disposition  than  himself, 
so  Appius  would  deliver  up  the  province  to  him, 
in  such  a  condition,  as  one  friend  would  expect  to 
receive  it  from  another  :t  in  answer  to  which, 
Appius,  having  intimated  some  desire  of  an  inter- 
view, Cicero  took  occasion  to  press  it  with  much 
earnestness,  as  a  thing  of  great  service  to  them 
both ;  and  that  it  might  not  be  defeated,  gave  him 
an  account  of  all  his  stages  and  motions,  and  of- 
fered to  regulate  them  in  such  a  manner,  as  to 
make  the  place  of  their  meeting  the  most  agreea- 
ble to  Appius's  convenience  :  but  Appius  being 
disgusted  by  the  first  edicts  which  Cicero  pub- 
lished, resolved,  for  that  reason,  to  disappoint  him  ; 
and  as  Cicero  advanced  into  the  province,  retired 
still  to  the  remoter  parts  of  it,  and  contrived  to 
come  upon  him  at  last  so  suddenly,  that  Cicero 

*  Ut  si  iMedicus,  cum  aegrotus  alii  medico  traditus  sit,  iiasci  velit 
ei  medico,  qui  sibi  successerit,  si  quae  ipse  in  curando  constituent 
mutet  ille.  Sic  Appius,  cum  «|  a.<^xi^i<7ia);  provinciam  curarit,  sau- 
guinem  miserit,  etc.  Ad  Att.  6.  1. 

t  Cum  contra  voluntatem  meara — accidisset,  ut  mihi  cjira  imperio 
in  Provinciam  ire  necessc  esset — haec  una  consolatiooccunebat,  quod 
neque  tibi  amicior,  quam  ego  sum,  quisquam  posset  succedere,  nequc 
ego  ab  ullo  Provinciam  accipere,  qui  mallet  eam  mihi  quam  maxirae 
aptara  explicataraqiic  tradere,  etc.     E'p.  Fam.  3.  2. 


212  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vh. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Kufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


had  not  warning  enough  given  to  go  out  and  meet 
him  ;  which  Appius  laid  hold  of,  as  a  fresh  ground 
of  complaint  against  Cicero's  pride,  for  refusing 
that  common  piece  of  respect  to  him.^ 

I'his  provoked  Cicero  to  expostulate  with  him, 

with  great  spirit "  I  was  informed,"  says  he, 

"  by  one  of  my  apparitors,  that  you  complained  of 
*'  me  for  not  coming  out  to  meet  you :  1  despised 
"you,  it  seems,  so  as  nothing  could  be  prouder 

'^ when  your  servant  came  to   me  near  mid- 

"  night,  and  told  me,  that  you  would  be  with  me 
*'  at  Iconium  before  day,  but  could  not  say  by 
''  which  road,  when  there  were  two  ;  I  sent  out 
"  your  friend  Yarro  by*  the  one,  and  Q..  Lepta, 
"the  commander  of  my  artillery,  by  the  other, 
"  with  instructions  to  each  of  them,  to  bring  me 
'^  timely  notice  of  your  approach,  that  I  might 
*'  conie  out  in  person  to  meet  you.  Lepta  came 
"running  back  presently  in  all  haste  to  acquaint 
"  me,  that  you  had  already  passed  by  the  camp ; 
"  upon  which  I  went  directly  to  Iconium,  where 
"  you  know  the  rest.  Did  T  -then  refuse  to  come 
''  out  to  you  ?  to  Appius  Claudius ;  to  an  empe- 
"  rour ;  then,  according  to  ancient  custom ;  and 
"  above  all  to  my  friend?  I,  who  of  all  men  am  apt 
''  to  do  more  in  that  way  than  becomes  my  dignity  ? 
*^  but  enough  of  this.  The  same  man  told  me,  like- 
"  w'ise,  that  you  said.  What !  Appius  w^ent  out  to 
"meet  Lentulus;  Lentulus  to  Appius;  but  Ci- 
" cero  would  not  come ^ out  to  Appius.     Can  you 


f  — me  libenter  ad  earn  partem  provinciae  primum  esse  venturum, 
quo  te  raaxime  velle  arbitrarer,  etc. — lb.  5. 

Appius  noster,  ciim  me  adventarc  videt,  profectns  est  TarsHm 
usque  Laodicea— Ad  Att.  5.  17. 


SECT.  VII.  CIGERO.  213 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic  56.  Cosi.— S«T.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


"  then  be  guilty  of  such  impertinence  ?  a  man,  in 
"my  judgment,  of  the  greatest  prudence,  learn- 
''  ing,  experience ;  and  I  may  add,  politeness  too, 
"  which  the  Stoicks  rightly  judge  to  be  a  virtue  ? 
"Do  you  imagine,  that  your  Appius's  and  Len- 
"  tulus's  are  of  more  weight  with  me  than  the  orna- 
"  ments  of  virtue  ?  Before  I  had  obtained  those 
"  honours,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  are 
"  thought  to  be  the  greatest,  I  never  fondly  ad- 
" mired  those  names  of  yours:  I  looked  indeed 
"  upon  those,  who  had  left  them  to  you,  as  great 
"  men ;  but  after  I  had  acquired,  and  borne  the 
"  highest  commands,  so  as  to  have  nothing  more 
"  to  desire,  either  of  honour  or  glory,  I  never  in- 
*'  deed  considered  myself  as  your  superiour,  but 
"  hoped  that  I  was  become  your  equal :  nor  did 
"Pompey,  whom  I  prefer  to  all  men  who  ever 
"  lived,  nor  Lentulus,  whom  I  prefer  to  myself, 
«'  think  otherwise  :  if  you,  however,  are  of  a  differ- 
"ent  opinion,  it  will  do  you  no  harm  to  read,  with 
"  some  attention,  what  Athenodorus  says  on  this 
"  subject,  that  you  may  learn  wherein  true  nobility 
"  consists.  But  to  return  to  the  point :  I  desire 
"  you  to  look  upon  me,  not  only  as  your  friend, 
"  but  a  most  affectionate  one  :  it  shall  be  my  care 
"  by  all  possible  services,  to  convince  you,  that  I 
"  am  truly  so  :  but  if  you  have  a  mind  to  let  peo- 
"  pie  see  that  you  are  less  concerned  for  my  in- 
"  terests,  in  my  absence,  than  my  pains  for  yours 
"  deserved,  I  free  you  from  that  trouble ; 

♦•  For  I  have  friends  enough  to  serve  and  love 
"  Both  me  and  mine,  and  above  all,  Great  Jove. 

lb.  1.  174. 


214  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  46.    Coss<— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

"  but  if  you  are  naturally  querulous,  you  shall  not 
"  still  hinder  my  good  offices  and  wishes  for  you : 
"  all  that  you  will  do,  is  to  make  me  less  solicitous 
*'how  you  take  them.  I  have  written  this  with 
"  more  than  my  usual  freedom,  from  the  conscious- 
"  ness  of  my  duty  and  affection,  which  being  con- 
"tracted  by  choice  and  judgment,  it  will  be  in 
"  your  power  to  preserve,  as  long  as  you  think 
"  proper.     Adieii.""* 

Cicero's  letters  to  Appius  make  one  book  of  his 
familiar  epistles,  the  greatest  part  of  which  are  of 
the  expostulatory  kind,  on  the  subject  of  their 
mutual  jealousies  and  complaints  :  in  this  slippery 
state  of  their  friendship,  an  accident  happened  at 
Rome,  which  had  like  to  have  put  an  end  to  it.  His 
daughter  Tullia,  after  parting  from  her  second 
husband  Crassipes,  probably  as  it  is  thought,  by 
divorce,t  was  married  in  her  father's  absence  to  a 
third,  P.  Cornelius  Dolabella :  several  parties  had 
been  offered  to  her,  and  among  them  Ti.  Claudius 
Nero,  who  afterwards  married  Livia,  whom  Au- 
gustus took  away  from  him;  Nero  made  his  pro- 
posals to  ^cero  in  Cilicia,  who  referred  him  to  the 
women  to  whom  he  had  left  the  management  of 
that  affair;  but  before  those  overtures  reached 
them,  they  had  made  up  the  match  with  Dola- 
bella, being  mightily  taken  with  his  complaisant 
and  obsequious  address.J     He  was  a  nobleman  of 

*  Ep.  Fam.  3.  7. 

t  What  confirms  this  notion  is,  that  Crassipes  appears  to  have  been 
alive  at  this  time,  and  under  Cicero's  dispJeasure,  who  mentions  him 
as  the  only  senator,  besides  Hirrus,  to  whom  he  did  not  think  fit  to 
write  about  the  affair  of  his  supplication.     Ad  Att.  7.  1. 

I  Ego  dura  in  provincia  omnibus  rebus  Appium  orno,  subito  sum 
factus  accusatoris  ejus  socer — sed  crede  raihi  nihil   minus  putaram 


SECT.     VII. 


CICERO.  215 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  46.    Com.— Servi  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

Patrician  descent,  and  of  great  parts  and  politeness, 
but  of  a  violent,  daring,  ambitious  temper,  warmly 
attached  to  Caesar  ;  and,  by  a  life  of  pleasure  and 
expense,  which  the  prudence  of  Tullia,  it  was 
hoped,  would  correct,  greatly  distressed  in  his 
fortunes,  which  made  Cicero  very  uneasy,  when 
he  came  afterwards  to  know  it.'^  Dolabella,  at 
the  time  of  this  marriage,  for  which  he  made  way 
also  by  the  divorce  of  his  first  wife,t  gave  a  proof  of 
his  enterprising  genius,  by  impeaching  Appius 
Claudius  of  practices  against  the  state.,  in  his  go- 
vernment of  Cilicia,  and  of  bribery  and  corrup- 
tion in  his  suit  for  the  consulship.  This  put  a 
great  difficulty  upon  Cicero,  and  made  it  natural 
to  suspect  that  he  privately  favoured  the  impeach- 
ment, where  the  accuser  was  his  son-in-law :  but, 
in  clearing  himself  of  it  to  Appius,  though  he  dis- 
sembled a  little  perhaps  in  disclaiming  any  part  or 
knowledge  of  that  match,  yet  he  was  very  sincere 
in  professing  himself  an  utter  stranger  to  the  im- 
peachment, and  was  in  truth,  greatly  disturbed  at 
it.  But,  as  from  the  circumstance  of  his  succeed- 
ing to  Appius  in  his  government,  he  was  of  all 
men  the  most  capable  of  serving  or  hurting  him 

ego,  qui  de  Ti.  Nerone,  qui  mecuna  egerat,  certos  homines  ad  raa- 
lieres  luiserara,  qui  Romam  veiierunt  factis  sponsalibus.  Sed  hoc 
spero  melius.  Mulieres  quidem  valde  iutelligo  delectari  obsequio  et 
comitate  adolescentis. — Ad  Att.  6.  6. 

*  Gener  est  suavis — quanturavis  vel  ingenii,  vel  humanitatis  ;  satis. 
Reliqua,  quae  nosti,  fercnda.     Ad  Att.  7.  3. 

Dolabellara  a  te  gaudeo  primura  laudari,  deinde  etiam  amari.  Nam 
ea  quae  speras  Tulliae  meae  prudentia  posse  tcmperari,  scio  cni 
tuae  epistolae  respondeant.     Kp.  Fam.  2.  15.  it.  {>.  13. 

Hac  oblectabar  specula,  DolabeJIam  meum  fore  ab  iis  molestiis. 
quas  libertate  sua  contiaxerat,  liberum — lb.  16. 

t  IHud  mihi  occurrit,  quod  inter  postnlationcm,  ot  jjominis  dcht- 
tionem,  uxor  a  DoIabeIJa  disccssit — lb.  <l.  H. 


216  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Cuss— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudiui  Marcellus. 


at  the  trial,  so  Pouipey,  who  took  great  pains  to 
skreen  Appius,  was  extremely  desirous  to  engage 
him  on  their  side,  and  had  thoughts  of  sending  one 
of  his  sons  to  him  for  that  purpose  :  but  Cicero 
saved  them  that  trouble,  by  declaring  early  and 
openly  for  Appius,  and  promising  every  thing 
from  the  province  that  could  possibly  be  of  service 
to  him,  which  he  thought  himself  obliged  to  do 
the  more  forwardly,  to  prevent  any  suspicion  of 
treachery  to  his  friend,  on  the  account  of  his  new 
alliance  :^  so  that  Appius,  instead  of  declining  a 
trial,  contrived  to  bring  it  on  as  soon  as  he  could  ; 
and,  with  that  view,  having  dropped  his  preten- 
sions to  a  triumph,  entered  the  city,  and  offered 
himself  to  his  judges,  before  his  accuser  was  pre- 
pared for  him,  and  was  acquitted,  without  any 
difficulty,  of  both  the  indictments. 

In  a  little  time  after  his  trial,  he  was  chosen 
censor,  together  with  Piso,  Caesar's  father-in-law, 
the  last  who  bore  that  office  during  the  freedom 
of  the  republick.  Clodius's  law,  mentioned  above, 
which  had  greatly  restrained  the  power  of  these 
magistrates,  was  repealed  the  last  year  by  Scipio, 
the  consul,  and  their  ancient  authority  restored  to 
them,t  which  was  now  exercised  with  great  rigour 
by    Appius :  who,  though   really  a  libertine,  and 

*  Pompeius  dicitur  valde  pro  Appio  laborare,  ut  etiam  puteat  al- 
teratrum  de  filiis  ad  te  raissurum.     Ibid. — 

Post  hoc  negotium  auteni  et  teraeritatem  nostri  JDolabellae  depre- 
catorem  me  pro  illius  perieulo  praebeo U).  2.  13. 

Tamen  hac  inihi  affinitate  uuhciata,  non  majore  equidem  studio,  sed 
acrius,  apertius,  significantius  dignitatem  tuam  defendissera— nam  ut 
vetus  nostra  simultas  antea  stimulabat  me,  ut  caverera  ne  cui  suspi- 
cionera  ficte  recouciliatae  gratiae  darem :  sic  affinitas  noTam  curam 
affert  cavendi.     lb.  3.  12. 

f  Dio,  p.  147. 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  217 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


remarkable  for  indula;ing  himself  in  all  the  luxury 
of  life,  yet,  by  an  affectation  of  severity,  hoped  to 
retrieve  his  character,  and  pass  for  an  admirer  of 
that  ancient  discipline,  for  which  many  of  his  ances- 
tors had  been  celel)rated.  Caelius  o;ives  a  pleasant 
account  of  him  to  Cicero  :  *^  Do  you  know,"  says  he, 
"  that  the  censor  Appius  is  doing  wonders  amono;st 
"  us,  about  statues  and  pictures,  the  number  of  our 
"acres,  and  the  payment  of  debts:  he  takes  the 
"  censorship  for  soap  or  nitre,  and  thinks  to  scour 
"  himself  clean  with  it ;  but  he  is  mistaken ;  for 
"  while  he  is  labouring  to  wash  out  his  stains,  he 
"  opens  his  very  veins  and  bowels,  and  lets  us  see 
"  him  the  more  intimately  :  run  away  to  us,  by  all 
"the  gods,  to  laugh  at  these  things:  Drusus  sits 
"judge  upon  adultery,  by  the  Scantinian  law  :  Ap- 
"  pius  on  statues  and  pictures."*  But  tliis  vain  and 
unseasonable  attempt  of  reformation,  instead  of 
doing  any  good,  served  only  to  alienate  people  from 
Pompey's  cause,  with  whom  Appius  was  strictly 
allied,  whilst  his  colleague  Piso,  who  foresaw^  that 
effect,  chose  to  sit  still,  and  suffer  him  to  disgrace 
the  knights  and  senators  at  pleasure,  which  he  did 
with  great  freedom  ;  and,  among  others,  turned 
Sallust,  the  historian,  out  of  the  senate,  and  was 
hardly  restrained  from  putting  the  same  affiont  upon 
Curio,  wliicli  added  still  more  friends  and  strength 
to  Caesar.f 


*  Scis  Appinm  Censorem  hicostenta  facere  ?  de  sigriis  et  tabulis,  de 
agri  inodo,  et  aere  alieno  acerrirae  agere  ?  persiiasuni  est  ei.  rensiiram 
lomeDtiim  ant  uitruin  esse.  Errare  iiiilii  videtnr.  Nam  sondes  eluere 
vult,  venas  sibi  oinnes  et  viscera  aperit.  Curre  per  Ceos,  et  quam 
primura  haec  risum  venl.  Legis  Scantiniae  judicium  apdd  Drusum 
fieri.     Appium  de  tabulis  et  sigois  agere Ep.  Earn.  S.  14. 

fDio.  I.  40.  p.  150. 
VOL.    TT.  28 


218  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vn. 


A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.--Serv.  Sulpicius  Ruftis.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

As  to  the  publick  news  of  the  year,  the  grand  af- 
fair, that  engaged  all  peoples  thoughts,  was  the  ex- 
pectation of  a  breach  between  Caesar  and  Pompey, 
which  seemed  now   unavoidable,  and  in  which  all 
men  were  beginning  to  take  part,  and  ranging  them- 
selves on  the  one  side  or  tlie  other.     On  Pompey's, 
there  was  ''  a  great  majority  of  the  senate  and  the 
"  magistrates,  with  the  better  sort  of  all  ranks  :  on 
"  Caesar's,  all  the  criminal  and  obnoxious,  all  who 
"  had  suffered  punishment,  or  deserved  it ;  the  great- 
"  est  part  of  the  youth,  and  the  city  mob ;  some  of 
"  the  popular  tribunes,  and  all  who  were  oppressed 
"  with  debts ;  who  had  a  leader  fit  for  their  purpose, 
"  daring,   and   well  provided,  and  wanting  nothing 
*'but  a   cause."     This   is   Cicero's   account;  and 
Caelius's  is    much   the  same:    "I   see,"   says  he, 
"  that   Pompey  will  have   the  senate,  and  all  who 
"judge  of  things  ;  Caesar,  all  who  live  in  fear  and 
"  uneasiness :  but  there  is  no  comparison  between 
**  th^ir  armies."^     Caesar   had  put  an  end  to  the 
Gallick  war,  and  reduced  the  whole  province  to  the 
Roman  yoke  :  but,  though  his  commission  was  near 
expiring,  he  seemed  to  have  no  thoughts  of  giving 
it  up,  ancrTeturning  to  the  condition  of  a   private 
subject:  he  pretended,   that  he  could  not  possibly 
be  safe,  if  he  parted  with  his  army,  especially  while 
Pompey  held  the  province  of  Spain,  prolonged  to 

*  Hoc  video,  cum  homine  aiidacissirao,  paratissimoqiie  negotiuin 
esse  :  omof'S  damnatos,  omnes,  ignominia  afFectos,  omnes  damnatione 
ignominiaque  digiios  iliac  facere.  Omnem  fere  jiivenlutem,  omnem 
illam  urbanairi  ac  perditam  p^lebem ;  tribnnos  valentes — omnes,  qui 
aere  alieno  premantur — causam  solara  ilia  causa  iion  liabet,  caeteris 
rebus  abundat Ad  Att.  7.  3. 

In  hac  discoidia  video,  Cn.  Pompeium  senatum,  quique  res  judicant, 
secum  habiturum :  ad  Caesarrm  omnes  qui  cum  timore  aut  mala  spp 
vivant  ad  Caesarera,  accessuros.  Ksercitum  conrerendnm  nonesse. 
Ep.  Fara.  8.  14. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  219 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Ularcelltis. 


him  for  five  years."^  The  senate,  in  the  mean  while, 
in  order  to  make  him  easy,  had  consented  to  let  him 
take  the  consulship,  without  coming  to  sue  for  it 
in  person :  but  when  that  did  not  satisfy  him,  the 
consul,  M.  Marcellus,  one  of  his  fiercest  enemies, 
moved  them  to  abrogate  his  command  directly,  and 
appoint  him  a  successor;  and  since  the  war  was  at 
an  end,  to  oblige  hiai  to  disband  liis  troops,  and  to 
come  likewise  in  person  to  sue  for  the  consulship, 
nor  to  allow  the  freedom  of  the  city  to  his  colonies 
beyond  the  Po :  this  related  particularly  to  a  fa- 
vourite colony,  which  Caesar,  when  consul,  had  set- 
tled at  Comum,  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  with  the 
freedom  of  the  city  granted  to  it  by  the  Yatinian 
law.f  All  the  other  colonies  on  that  side  of  the  Po 
had  before  obtained  from  Pompey's  father  the 
rights  of  Latium,  that  is,  the  freedom  of  Rome  to 
those  who  had  borne  an  annual  magistracy  in  them : 
but  M.  Marcellus,  out  of  a  singular  enmity  to  Cae- 
sar, would  allow  no  such  right  to  his  colony  of  Co- 
mum  ;  find  having  caught  a  certain  Comensian  ma- 
gistrate, who  was  acting  the  citizen  at  Rome,  he 
ordered  him  to  be  seized,  and  publickly  whipt ;  an 
indignity  from  which  all  citizens  were  exempted  by 
law ;  bidding  the  man  go  and  shew  those  marks  of 
his  citizenship  to  Caesar.J  Cicero  condemns  this 
act  as  violent  and  unjust;  "Marcellus,"  says  he, 
"  behaved  shamefully  in  the  case  of  the  Comensian  : 
"  for  if  the  man  had  never  been  a  magistrate,  he 
"  was  yet  of  a  colony  beyond  the  Po  ;  so  that  Pom- 

*  Caesari  aiitem  persuasum  est,  se  salvura  esse  nou  posse,  si  ab  ex- 
crcitii  reeesserit.  Fert  illam  tamen  conditionein,  ut  ambo  exercitus 
tradant.     Ibid. 

fSueton.  J.  Caes.  c.  2^.  Strabo,  1.  T;.  326.  \  Appian.  2.  443. 


220  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  mu 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

"pey  will  not  be  less  shocked  at  it  than  Caesar 
"  himself."^ 

The  other  consul,  Serv.  Sulpicius,  was  of  a  more 
caniHd  and  moderate  temper ;  and,  beino^  unwilling 
to  «;ive  such  a  handle  for  a  civil  war,  opposed  and 
overruled  the  motions  of  his  collea^ijue,  by  the  help 
of  some  of  the  tribunes :  nor  was  Pompey  him- 
self disposed  to  proceed  so  violently,  or  to  break 
with  Caesar  on  that  foot;  but  thouij^ht  it  more  plau- 
sible to  let  his  term  run  out,  and  his  command  ex- 
pire of  itself,  and  so  throw  upon  him  the  odium  of 
turning  his  arms  aorainst  his  country,  if  he  should 
resolve  to  act  against  the  senate  and  the  laws. 
This  counsel  prevailed,  after  many  warm  contesta- 
tions, in  which  the  summer  was  chiefly  spent,  and  a 
decree  was  offered  on  the  last  of  September,  "  That 
'•the  consuls  elect,  L.  PauUus  and  C.  Marcellus 
"  should  move  the  senate  on  the  first  of  March,  to 
"  settle  the  consular  provinces ;  and  if  any  magis- 
"  trate  should  interpose  to  hinder  the  effect  of  their 
"  decrees,  that  he  should  be  deemed  an  enemy  to 
"  the  republick ;  and  if  any  one  actually  interposed, 
"that  this'^n^ote  and  resolution  should  be  entered 
"into  the  journals,  to  be  considered  some  other  time 
"  by  the  senate,  and  laid  also  before  the  people." 
But  four  of  the  tribunes  gave  tlieir  joint  negative 
to  this  decree,  C.  Caelius,  L.  Yinicius,  P.  Corne- 
lius, and  C.  Vibius  Pansa.  In  the  course  of  these 
debates,  Pompey,  who  affected  great  moderation  in 
whatever  he  said  of  Caesar,  was  teazed  and  urged 
on  all  sides  to  make  an  explicit  declaration  of  his 


*  Marcellus  foede  de  Comensi  :  csti  ille  magistralura  iion  gesserit, 
erat  tameii  Tran«!padaniis.  Ita  luihi  videtur  non  minus  stomachi  nos- 
tro,  ac  Caesari  inovisse.     Ad  Alt.  5.  11. 


SECT.  vii.  CICERO.  221 


A.  Urb.  702.  Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


sentiments.  When  he  called  it  unjust  to  determine 
any  thins:  about  ( -aesar's  government,  before  the 
first  of  Maich,  the  term  prescribed  to  it  by  law, 
being  asked,  "  What,  if  any  one  should  then  put 
"  a  neg;ative  upon  them,"  he  said,  **  there  was  no 
"  difference  whether  Caesar  refused  to  obey  the 
"decrees  of  the  senate,  or  provided  men  to  ob- 
^'  struct  them :"  ''  What,"  says  another,  "  if  he 
"  should  insist  on  being  consul,  and  holding  his 
''  province  too  ?  What,"  replied  Pompey,  "•  if  my 
"  son  should  take  a  stick  and  cudgel  me  ?"*  inti- 
mating the  one  to  be  as  incredible  and  as  impious 
also  as  the  other. 

Cicero's  friend  Caelius  obtained  the  aedileship 
this  summer  from  his  competitor  Hirrus,  the  same 
who  had  opposed  Cicero  in  the  augurate,  and 
whose  disappointment  gave  occasion  to  many 
jokes  between  them  in  their  letters.f  In  this  mag- 
istracy, it  being  customary  to  procure  wild  beasts 
of  all  kinds  from  different  parts  of  the  empire,  for 
the  entertainment  of  the  city,  Caelius  begged  of 
Cicero  to  supply  him  with  panthers  from  Cilicia, 
and  to  employ  the  Cybarites,  a  people  of  his  pro- 
vince famed  for  hunting,  to  catch  them :  "  for  it 
"  would  be  a  reflection  upon  you,"  says  he,  *'  when 
"  Curio  had  ten  panthers  from  that  country,  not 
*'  to  let  me  have  many  more."  He  recommends 
to  him,  at  the  same  time,    M.    Feridius,  a    Ro- 


■*•  Cum  inteiTogaretur,  si  qui  turn  iutercederent :  dixit  hoc  nihil 
interesse,  utrura  C.  Caesar  senatui  dicto  audiens  futurus  non  esset, 
an  pararet,  qui  senatum  decernere  non  pateretur.  Quid  si,  inquit 
alius,  et  consul  esse  et  exercitiim  habere  volet?  At  ille  quain  cle- 
inenter,  Quid  sifilius  mens  fustem  inihi  impingere  volet  ?  Ep.  Fam. 
n.  8. 

t  Ep.  Fara.  2.  9,  10.  it.  8.  2,  3,  ». 


522  THE    LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  702.    Cic  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  "Claudius  Slarcellus. 


man  knight,  who  had  an  estate  in  Cilicia,  charged 
with  some  services  or  quit-rents  to  the  neighbour- 
ing cities,  which  he  begs  of  him  to  get  discharged, 
so  as  to  make  the  lands  free  ;^  he  seems  also  to 
have  desired  Cicero's  consent  to  his  levying  certain 
contributions  upon  the  cities  of  his  province,  to- 
wards defraying  the  expense  of  his  shews  at  Rome  ; 
a  prerogative  which  the  aediles  always  claimed, 
and  sometimes  practised ;  though  it  was  denied  to 
them  by  some  governours,  and  particularly  by 
Quintus  Cicero  in  Asia,  upon  the  advice  of  his 
brother  if  in  answer  to  all  which,  Cicero  replied, 
''  that  he  was  sorry  to  find  that  his  actions  were  so 
''much  in  the  dark,  that  it  was  not  yet  known  at 
''  Rome,  that  not  a  farthing  had  been  exacted  in 
"his  province,  except  for  the  payment  of  just 
"  debts :  that  it  was  neither  fit  for  him  to  extort 
"  money,  nor  for  Caelius  to  take  it,  if  it  were  de- 
"  signed  for  himself:  and  admonished  him,  who  had 
"  undertaken  the  part  of  accusing  others,  to  live 
"  himself  with  more  caution — and,  as  to  panthers, 
"  that  it  was  not  consistent  with  his  character  to  im- 
^'  pose  the  charge  of  hunting  them  upon  the  poor 
"  people."}r  But  though  he  would  not  break  his 
rules  for  the  sake  of  his  friend,  yet  he  took  care  to 

*  Fcrc  litteris  omnibus  tibi  de  Pantheris  scrip.>i.  Tiirpe  tibi  erit, 
Patiscura  Curioni  decern  Pantheras  misisse,  te  non  raultis  partibus 
plures,  etc.     Ep.  Fam.  8,  9. 

M.  Feridium,  tibi  commendo.  Agros,  quos  fructuarios  habent  civi- 
tates,  vult  tuo  beneficio,  quod  tibi  facile  et  honestum  factu  est,  ira- 
munes  esse.     lb. 

t  AdQuint.  Frat.  1.  1.  $9.     ' 

t  Ptescripsi,  me  moleste  ferre,  si  ego  in  tenebris  laterem,  nee  an- 
diretur  Romae,  nullum  in  mea  provincia  nummura  nisi  inaes  alienum 
erogari ;  docuique  nee  mihi  conciliare  pecuniam  licere,  nee  illi  cape- 
re;  raonuique  eura,  etc.     Ad  Att.  6.  1. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  223 

A.  Urb.  702.     Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcdlus. 

provide  panthers  for  him  at  his  own  expense,  and 
says  pleasantly  upon  it,  that  the  beasts  made  a  sad 
complaint  against  him,  and  resolved  to  quit  the 
country,  since  no  snares  were  laid  in  his  province 
for  any  other  creature  but  themselves.^ 

Curio  likewise  obtained  the  tribunate  this  summer, 
which  he  sought  with  no  other  design,  as  many 
imagined,  than  for  the  opportunity  of  mortifying 
Caesar,  against  whom  he  had  hitherto  acted  with 
great  fierceness.t  But  Cicero,  who  knew  from 
the  temper  and  views  of  them  both,  how  easy  it 
would  be  to  make  up  matters  between  them,  took 
occasion  to  w^rite  a  congratulatory  letter  to  him 
upon  this  advancement,  in  which  he  exhorts  him  w^ith 
great  gravity,  "  to  consider  into  what  a  dangerous 
"  crisis  his  tribunate  had  fallen,  not  by  chance,  but 
"  his  own  choice ;  what  violence  of  the  times,  what 
"  variety  of  dangers  hung  over  the  republick,  how 
"  uncertain  the  events  of  thino^s  were,  how  chanore- 
''  able  men's  minds,  how  much  treachery  and  false- 
"  hood  in  human  life — he  begs  of  him,  therefore, 
"to  beware  of  entering  into  any  new  councils,  but 
"to  pursue  and  defend  what  he  himself  thought 
"  right,  and  not  suffer  himself  to  be  drawn  away 
''by  the  advice  of  others," — referring,  ivithout 
doubt,  to  M.  Antony,  the  chief  companion  and 
corrupter  of  his  youth  :  In  the  conclusion,  he  con- 
jures him,  to  "  employ  his  present  power  to  hin- 

*  De  Pantheris,  per  eos,  qui  venari  solent,  agitiir  mandato  meo 
(liligeuter:  sed  mira  paiicitas  est:  et  eas,  quae  sunt,  valde  aiiint 
queri  quod  nihil  cuiquam  insidiarnm  in  mea  provinria  nisi  sibi  fiat. 
Kp.  Fara.  2.  11. 

f  Sed  ut  spero  et  volo,  et  ut  se  fert  ipse  Curio,  bonos  et  senatun* 
malet.     Totus  ut  nunc  est,  lioc  scaturit.     lb.  8.  4. 


224  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urbi  702.    Cic.  56.    Coss.— Serv.  Sulpicius  Rufus.    M.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


"  der  to  provincial  trouble  from  being  prolons^ed 
"  by  any  new  act  of  the  senate."^ — Cicero's  sus- 
picions were  soon  confirmed  by  letters  from  Rome  ; 
whence  Caelius  sent  him  word  of  Curio's  chang- 
ing sides,  and  declaring  himself  for  Caesar :  in  an- 
swer to  which,  Cicero  says,  ''the  last  page  of  your 
''  letter,  in  your  own  hand,  really  touched  me. — 
"  What  do  you  say  ?  is  Curio  turned  advocate  for 
"  Caesar  ?  who  would  have  thought  it  besides  my- 
"  self?  for,  let  me  die  if  I  did  not  expect  it !  Good 
"  gods,  how  much  do  I  long  to  be  laughing  with 
"you  at  Rome!"t 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paullus  C.  Claudius  Maroellus. 

The  new  consuls  being  Cicero's  particular 
friends,  he  wrote  congratulatory  letters  to  them 
both,  upon  their  election,  in  which  he  begged  the 
concurrence  of  their  authority  to  the  decree  of  his 
supplication  ;  and,  what  he  had  more  at  heart,  that 
they  woufJ  not  suffer  any  prolongation  of  his  an- 
nual term  ;  in  which  they  readily  obliged  him, 
and  received  his  thanks  also  by  letter  for  that  fa- 
vour.! It  was  expected,  that  something  decisive 
would  now  be  done  in  relation  to  the  two  Gauls, 
and  the  appointment  of  a  successor  to  Caesar, 
since  both  the  consuls  were  supposed  to  be  bis  ene- 
mies :  but  all  attempts; of  that  kind  were  still  frus- 


Ep.  Fam.  2.  7. 

I  Extrema  pagella  pupiigit  me  tuo  chirographo.     Quid  ais  ?  Cae- 
sarem  nunc  defendit  Curio?  quis  hoc  putaret  praeter  ine  ?  nam  ita 


vivara,  putavi.     lb.  13 
tEp.  Fam.  15.  7.  10,  11,  12,  13. 


SECT.   VII. 


CICERO.  225 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paulliis.    C.  Claudius  Maicelhu* 


trated  by  the  intrigues  of  Caesar ;  for  when  C. 
Marcellus  be«;an  to  renew  the  same  motion,  which 
his  kinsman  had  made  the  year  before,  he  was  ob- 
structed by  his  colleaorue  Paullus,  and  the  tribune 
Curio,  whom  Caes-^.r  had  privately  gained  by  im- 
mense bribes,  to  suffer  nothing  prejudicial  to  his  in- 
terest to  pass  during  their  magistracy.*  He  is 
said  to  have  given  Paullus  about  three  hundred 
thousand  poiuids,  and  to  Curio  much  more.f  The 
first  wanted  it  to  defray  the  charges  of  those  splen- 
did buildings  which  he  had  imdertaken  to  raise  at 
his  own  cost :  the  second,  to  clear  himself  of  the 
load  of  his  debts,  which  amounted  to  about  half  a 
million:!  for  he  had  wasted  his  great  fortunes  so 
effectually  in  a  few  years,  that  he  had  no  other 
revenue  left,  as  Pliny  says,  but  in  the  hopes  of 
a  civil  w^ar.^  These  facts  are  mentioned  by  all  the 
Roman  w^riters  : 

Momentumquefuit  mutatvs  Curio  rerum, 

GaUormn  capius  spoliis  et  Caesaris  auro. — 

Lucan.  4.  819. 

Caught  by  the  spoils  of  Gaul,  and  Caesar's  gold, 

Curio  turn'd  traitor,  and  his  country  sold. 

and  Servius  applies  that  the  passage  of  Yirgil,  ven- 
didit  hie  auro  patrlam,  to  the  case  of  Curio's  sell- 
in  c  Rome  to  Caesar. 

Cicero  in  the  meantime  was  expecting  with  im- 
patience,  the  expiration  of  his  annual  term,  but, 

*  Suetoo.  J.  Caes.  29.  \  Appian.  I.  ii.  p.  443. 

I  Sexcenties  sestertium  aeris  alieni.     Val.  Max.  9.  1. 
$  Qui  nihil  in  censu  habuerit,  praeter  discordiain  prlncipum.    Plin. 
Hist.  I.  36.  15. 

VOL.    II.  29 


22G  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vif. 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  PauUus.    C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

before  he  could  quit  the  province,  he  was  obliged 
to  see  the  account  of  all  the  money,  which  had  pass- 
ed through  his  own  or  his  officers  hands,  stated  and 
balanced  ;  and  three  fair  copies  provided,  two  to 
be  deposited  in  tv/o  of  the  principal  cities  of  his 
jurisdiction,  and  a  third  in  the  treasury  at  Rome. 
That  his  whole  administration,  therefore,  miojht  be 
of  a  piece,  he  was  very  exact  and  punctual  in  ac- 
quitting himself  of  this  duty,  and  would  not  in- 
dulge his  olficers  in  the  use  of  any  publick  money 
beyond  the  legal  time,  or  above  the  sum  prescribed 
by  law,  as  appears  from  his  letters  to  some  of  them 
who  desired  it.^  Out  of  the  annual  revenue, 
which  was  decreed  to  him  for  the  use  of  the  pro- 
vince, he  remitted  to  the  treasury  all  that  he  had 
not  expended,  to  the  amount  of  above  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds.  "  This,  (says  he,)  makes 
"  my  whole  company  groan ;  they  imagined  that  it 
"  should  have  been  divided  among  themselves,  as 
"  if  I  ought  to  have  been  a  better  manager  for  the 
"  treasuries  of  Phrygia  and  Cilicia,  than  for  our 
"  own.  But  they  did  not  move  me  ;  for  my  own 
"  honour  weighed  with  me  the  most :  yet  1  have 
"  not  beerwwanting  to  do  every  thing  in  my  pow- 
"  er  that  is  honourable  and  generous  to  them 
"  alL"t 


*  Laodiceae  me  praedes  acceptiinim  arbitror  omnis  publirae  pecu- 
niae— nihil  est,  qnod  in  isto  genere  cuiquam  possira  coinmodare,  etc. 
Ep.  Fam.  2.  17. 

Illud  qiiidera  certe  factum  est,  quod  lex  jubebat,  ut  apud  duas  civi- 
tates,  Laodicensem,  et  Apameenseia,  quae  nol}is  maxiujae  videbantiir 
— rationes  conlectas  et  consoli(3atas  depoueremus,  etc.     Jb.  5.  20. 

f  Cum  enim  rectum  et  gloriosura  putarem  ex  annuo  sumptu,  qui 
mihi  decretus  esset.  Me  C  Caelio  quaestori  relinquere  annum,  re- 
ferre  in  aerarium  ad  IL  S.  cic.  Ingemuit  nostra  coliors,  omne  illud 
puians  distribui  sibi  oporteie  ;  ut  ego  amicior  invenirer  J^hrygum.aut 
Cilicum  aerariis,  quam  nostro.     Sed'me  uon  moveruut ;  nam  mea  laus 


SECT.   VII.  CICERO.  2-2? 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.  Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paullus.    C.  Claudius  >farcellus. 


His  last  concern  was,  to  what  hands  he  should 
commit  the  government  of  his  province  upon  his 
leaving  it,  since  tliere  was  no  successor  appointed 
by  the  senate,  on  account  of  the  heats  among  them 
about  the  case  of  Caesar,  whicii  disturbed  all  their 
debates,  and  interrupted   all  other  business.     He 
had  no  opinion  of  his  quaestor,  C.  Caelius,  a  young 
man  of  noble  birth,  but  of  no  great  virtue  or  pru- 
dence ;  and  was  afraid,  after  his  glorious  adminis- 
tration, that,  by  placing  so  gr^at  a  trust  in  one  of 
his  character,  he  should  expose  himself  to  some 
censure.     But  he  had  no  body  about  him  of  supe- 
riour  rank,  who  was  willing  to  accept  it,  and  did 
not  care  to  force  it  upon  his  brother,  lest  tliat  might 
give  a  handle  to  suspect  him  of  some  interest  or 
partiality  in  the  choice.^     He  dropt  the  province, 
therefore,  after  some  deliberation,  into  Caelius's 
hands,  and  set  forward  immediately  upon  his  jour- 
ney towards  Italy. 

But  before  he  quitted  Asia,  he  begged  of  Atti- 
cus  by  letter,  to  send  him  a  particular  detail  of  all 
the  news  of  the  city — "  There  are  odious  reports, 
"  (says  he,)  about  Curio  and  Paullus ;  not  that  I 
"  see  any  danger,  while  Pompey  stands,  or  I  may 
"  say,  indeed,  while  he  sits,  if  he  has  but  his  health  ; 
*^  but  in  truth,  I  am  sorry  for  his  friends,  Curio 

apud  me  pliirimnm  valuit.     Nee  tamen  quicqiiam  honorifice  in  quem- 
quara  fieri  potuit,  quod  praetermiserim.     Ad  Att.  7.  1. 

*  Ego  de  provincia  deeedens  quaestorem  Caelium  pracposui  pro- 
vinciae.  Puernra  ?  inquies.  At  quaestorem ;  at  uobiieni  adolcscrjn- 
tem  ;  at  omnium  fere  exemplo.  Ncque  erat  sup;jriore  honore  usus. 
quern  praelicerem.  Pontinius  multo  atite  discesserat.  A  Quinto 
fratre  impetrari  non  potcrat  :  quern  tamcn  si  reliquissera,  dicerent 
iniqui,  non  me  plau3  post  annum,  nt  senatus  voluisset,  de  provincia 
decessisse,  quoniam  alterum  m3  reliquissfm.  Kp.  Fam.  2.  15.  vid. 
it.  Ad  Att.  6,  5,  G. 


m 


228  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vir. 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paullus.    C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

"  and  Paullus.  If  you  are  now  therefore  at  Rome, 
"  or  as  soon  as  you  come  thither,  I  would  have  you 
"  to  send  me  a  plan  of  the  whole  republick,  which 
"  may  meet  me  on  the  road,  that  I  may  form  my- 
"  self  upon  it,  and  resolve  what  temper  to  assume 
"  on  my  coming  to  the  city  :  for  it  is  some  advan- 
"  tage  not  to  come  thither  a  mere  stranc^er,"*  We 
see  what  a  confidence  he  placed  in  Pompey,  on 
whom  indeed  their  whole  prospect  either  of  peace 
with  Caesar,  or  of  success  against  him  depended : 
as  to  the  intimation  about  his  health,  it  is  expressed 
more  strongly  in  another  letter :  *'  All  our  hopes," 
says  he,  "  hang  upon  the  life  of  one  man,  who  is 
''  attacked  every  year  by  a  dangerous  fit  of  sick- 
"  ness."t  His  constitution  seems  to  have  been  pe- 
culiarly subject  to  fevers;  the  frequent  returns  of 
which,  in  the  present  situation  of  affairs,  gave  great 
apprehension  to  all  his  party  :  in  one  of  those  fe- 
vers, which  threatened  his  life  for  many  days  suc- 
cessively, all  the  towns  of  Italy  put  up  publick 
prayers  for  his  safety ;  an  honour  which  had  never 
been  paid  before  to  any  man,  while  Rome  was 
>   free.J 

Upon  taking  leave  of  Cilicia,  Cicero  paid  a  visit 
to  Rhodes,  for  the  sake,  he  says,  of  the    children.? 

•'^  Hue  odiosa  affeiebautnr  de  Curione,  de  Paullo:  non  quo  ulluin 
periculuin  videam  stante  Pompeio,  vel  etiara  sedente,  valeat  modo. 
Sed  raehercule  Curionis  et  Paulli  meorum  f'amiliariura  vicem  doleo. 
Forniara  igitur  inihi  toliiis  Reip.  si  jam  o?  Roinae,  aut  cum  eris, 
velim  iiiitlas,  quae  milii  obviaiii  veniat.  Ex  qua  me  fingere  possum, 
etc.     Ad  Att.  6.  3. 

f  In  unius  homiiiis,  quotannis  periculose  aegrotantis,  anima,  positas 
nmnes  nostras  spes  habemus ibid.  8.  2. 

J  Quo  quidem  tempore  universa  Italia  vota  pro  salute  ejus,  prime 
omnium  civium,  suscepit V'ell.  Pat.  2.  48.     Dio,  p.  155. 

h  Rhodum  volo  puerorum  causa.     Ad  Att.  6.  7. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  229 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paullus.    C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

His  rlesi^n  was  to  ^ive  them  a  view  of  that  flou- 
rishiiiiij  isle,  and  a  little  exercise,  perhaps,  in  that 
celebrated  school  of  eloquence,  where  lie  himself 
had  studied  with  so  much  success  under  Molo. 
Here  he  received  the  news  of  Hortensius's  death,^ 
which  greatly  affected  him,  by  recalling  to  his  mind 
the  many  glorious  struggles  that  they  had  sustain- 
ed together  at  the  bar,  in  their  competition  for  the 
prize  of  eloquence.  Hortensius  reigned  absolute 
in  the  Forum,  when  Cicero  first  entered  it ;  and 
as  his  superiour  fame  was  the  chief  spur  to  Cicero's 
industry,  so  the  shining  specimen,  which  Cicero 
soon  gave  of  himself,  made  Hortensius  likewise 
the  brighter  for  it,  by  obliging  him  to  exert  all 
the  force  of  his  genius  to  maintain  his  ground 
against  his  young  rival.  They  passed  a  great 
part  of  their  lives  in  a  kind  of  equal  contest  and 
emulation  of  each  other's  merit :  but  Hortensius, 
by  the  superiority  of  his  years,  having  first  pass- 
ed through  the  usual  gradation  of  publick  honours, 
and  satisfied  his  ambition  by  obtaining  the  highest, 
began  to  relax  somewhat  of  his  old  contention, 
and  give  way  to  the  charms  of  ease  and  luxury,  to 
which  his  nature  strongly  inclined  him,t  till  he  was 
forced  at  last  by  the  general  voice  of  the  city,  to 
yield  the  post  of  honour  to  Cicero  ;  who  never 
lost  sight  of  the  true  point  of  gloiy,  nor  was  ever 
diverted  by  any  temptation  of  pleasure  from  his 
steady   course   and    laborious    pursuit   of  virtue. 


*  Cum  e  Cilicia  decedens  Rhodum  venissero,  et  eo  mihl  de  Q.  Hor- 
tensii  morte  esset  allatum  ;  opinione  oiiiuium  majorrm  aniiDO  repi 
dolorem Biut»  init. 

t  Nam  is  post  consulatum — summura  illiid  suiim  studiiim  remisit, 
quo  a  puero  fuerat  incensiis ;  atque  in  omnium  rtiiim  ahiindantia 
voluit  beatius,  ut  ipse  putabat,  remissius  certe  vivere.  Brut,  p 
443. 


230  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vii 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paullus.    C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

Hortensius  published  several  orations  which  were 
extant  long  after  his  death ;  and  it  were  much  to 
be  wished  that  they  had  remained  to  this  day,  to 
enable  us  to  form  a  judgment  of  the  different  ta- 
lents of  these  two  great  men :  but  they  are  said  to 
have  owed  a  great  part  of  their  credit  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  his  action,  which  yet  was  thought  to 
have  more  of  art  than  was  necessary  to  an  orator, 
so  that  his  compositions  were  not  admired  so  much 
by  the  reader,  as  they  had  been  by  the  hearer;^ 
while  Cicero's  more  valued  productions  made  all 
others  of  that  kind  less  sought  for,  and  conse- 
quently the  less  carefully  preserved.  Hortensius, 
however,  was  generally  allowed  by  the  ancients, 
and  by  Cicero  himself,  to  have  possessed  every  ac- 
complishment, which  could  adorn  an  orator ;  ele- 
gance of  stile ;  art  of  composition  ;  fertility  of  in- 
vention J  sweetness  of  elocution  ;  gracefulness  of  ac- 
iion.f  These  two  rivals  lived,  however,  always 
with  great  civility  and  respect  towards  each  other, 
and  were  usually  in  the  same  w^ay  of  thinking  and 
aciing  in  the  affairs  of  the  republick ;  till  Cicero, 
in  the  case  of  his  exile,  discovered  the  plain  marks 
of  a  lurktrrg  envy  and  infidelity  in  Hortensius : 
yet  his  resentment  carried  him  no  farther  than  to 
some  free  complaints  of  it  to  their  common  friend 
Atticus,  wlio  made  it  his  business  to  mitigate  this 
disgust,  and  hinder  it  from  proceeding  to  an  open 

*  Mollis  et  gestiis  etiam  plus  artis  habebat  quam  erat  oratori 
satis.  Brut.  42.5.  dicebat  melius  quam  scripsit  Hortensius.  Ora- 
tor, p.  261.  ' 

Ejus   scripta   tantuin    intra   famara  sunt,  qui    diu  princeps  orato- 

rura existimatus  est,  novissime  quoad  vixit,  secundus ;  ut  ap- 

pareat  placuisse  aliquid  eo  dicente,  quod  legentes  non  invenimus — 
Quint,  xi.  3. 

f  Erat  in  verborum  splendors  elegans,  compositions  aptus,  facul- 
tate  copiosus  : — noc  praetermittebat  fere  quicquam  quod  erat  in 
rausa — tox  canora  ct  suavis — Brut.  425. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  2'3\ 

A.  Urb.  703.     Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  PauUus.    C.  Claudius  Maretllus. 


breach ;  so  that  Cicero,  being  naturally  placable, 
lived  again  with  him  after  his  return,  on  the  same 
easy  terms  as  before,  and  lamented  his  death  at 
this  time  with  great  tenderness,  not  only  as  the 
private  loss  of  a  friend,  but  a  publick  misfortune 
to  his  country,  in  being  deprived  of  the  service 
and  authority  of  so  experienced  a  statesman  at  so 
critical  a  conjuncture.* 

From  Rhodes  he  passed  on  to  Ephesus,  wdience 
he  set  sail,  on  the  first  of  October,  and,  after  a 
tedious  passage,  landed  at  Athens  on  the  four- 
teenth.f  Here  he  lodged  again  in  his  old  quar- 
ters, at  the  house  of  his  friend  Aristus.  His  pre- 
decessor, Appius,  who  passed  also  through  Athens 
on  his  return,  had  ordered  a  new  portico  or  vesti- 
bule to  be  built  at  his  cost  to  the  temple  of  the 
Eleusinian  Ceres ;  wiiich  suggested  a  thought  like- 
wise to  Cicero,  of  adding  some  ornament  of  tlie 
same  kind  to  the  academy,  as  a  publick  monu- 
ment of'his  name,  as  w^ell  as  of  his  affection  for  the 
place  :  for  he  hated,  he  says,  those  false  inscrip- 
tions of  other  people's  statues,t  with  w'hich  the 
Greeks  used  to  flatter  their  new  masters,  by  effac- 
ing the  old  titles,  and  inscribing  them  anew  to  the 
great  men  of  Rome.     He  acquainted  Atticus  with 

*  Nam  et  amico  amisso  cum  consuetndine  jucunda,  turn  iniiltoriiin 
officioriim  conjunctinne  me  privatum  videham — angebat  etiam  mo- 
lestiam,  quod  magna  sapientium  civium  bouoriimqiie  penuria,  vir 
egregius, .  conjunclissimusque  mecum  consiliorum  omnium  societate 
alienissimo  Reipnb.  tempore  extinctus — Brut.  init. 

t  Prid.  Id.  Octob.  Athenas  venimus,  cum  sane  adversis  ventis  usi 
essemus.     Ep.  Fam.  11.  r>. 

^  Audio  Appium  Tr^iTn/XA/sv  Elousine  facere.  Num  incpti  fuerimus, 
si  nos  quoque  academiae  lacerimus  ? — equidem  valde  ipsas  Athenas 
amo.  Volo  esse  aliquod  monumentum.  Odi  falsas  inseriptiones  alir- 
narum  statuarum.    J^ed  ut  tibi  placebit.     Ad  Alt.  6.  1. 


232  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  vii 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  AeraUius  Paullus.    C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


his  design,  and  desired  his  opinion  upon  it:  but, 
in  all  probability,  it  was  never  executed,  since  his 
stay  at  Athens  was  now  very  short,  and  his  thoughts 
wholly  bent  on  Italy  :  for,  as  all  his  letters  con- 
firmed to  him  the  certainty  of  a  w^ar,  in  which  he 
must  necessarily  bear  a  part,  so  he  was  impatient 
to  be  at  home,  that  he  might  have  the  clearer  view 
of  the  state  of  affairs,  and  take  his  measures  with 
the  greater  deliberation.^  Yet  he  was  not  still 
without  hopes  of  peace,  and  that  he  should  be  able 
to  make  up  the  quarrel  between  the  chiefs ;  for 
he  was,  of  all  men,  the  best  qualified  to  effect  it, 
on  account,  not  only  of  his  authority,  but  of  his 
intimate  friendship  with  them  both ;  who  severally 
paid  great  court  to  him  at  this  time,  and  reckoned 
upon  him  as  their  own,  and  wrote  to  him  with  a 
confidence  of  his  being  a  determined  friend.f 

In  his  voyage  from  Athens  towards  Italy,  Tiro, 
one' of  his  slaves,  Avhom  he  soon  after  made  free, 
happened  to  fall  sick,  and  was  left  behind  at  Pa- 
trae  to  the  care  of  friends  and  a  physician.  The 
mention  of  such  an  accident  will  seem  trifling  to 
those  wh^are  not  acquainted  with  the  character 
and  excellent  qualities  of  Tiro,  and  how  much  we 


*  Cognovi  ex  misltoriim  amicornm  litteris — ad  arrna  rem  spectare. 
Lit  luilii  ciim  venero,  dissiimilaie  uon  liceat,  quid  seiitiam.  ISed 
quum  siibeiinda  fortnna  est,  eo  citius  dabimiis  operam  ut  veniamus, 
quo  iaciliiis  de  tola  re  deliberemus.    Ep.  Fam.  14.  5. 

JSive  enim  ad  couconliam  res  addiici  potest,  sive  ad  bouorum  vic- 
toriain,  utriiisve  rei  me  aut  adjutorcm  esse  velim,  aut  certe  non  'ex- 
pertem.     Ad  Att.  7.  3.  ; 

j  Ipsura  tamen  Pompeium  separatim  ad  concordiam  hortabor.  lb. 

Me  autem  uterque  numerat  suum.  Nisi  forte  simulat  alter.  Nam 
Pompeiiis  non  dubitat  (vere  enim  judicat)  ea,  quae  de  Repub.  nunc 
sentiat,  raihi  valde  probari.  IJtriusque  autem  accepi  litteras  ejus- 
modi — ut  neuter  quemquam  omnium  pluris  facere  quam  me  videre- 
tur.     lb.  7.  1. 


SECT.  VII.  CTCERO.  233 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.—L.  Aemilius  PauUus.    C.  Claudius  Mareellus. 

are  indebted  to  him  for  preservino;  and  transmitting 
to  posterity  the  precious  collection  of  Cicero's  let- 
ters, of  which  a  great  part  still  remain,  and  one 
entire  book  of  them  written  to  Tiro  himself;  se- 
veral of  which  relate  to  the  subject  of  this  very  ill- 
ness. Tiro  was  trained  up  in  Cicero's  family, 
among  the  rest  of  his  young  slaves,  in  every  kind 
of  useful  and  polite  learning,  and,  being  a  youth 
of  singular  parts  and  industry,  soon  became  an 
eminent  scholar,  and  extremely  serviceable  to  his 
master  in  all  his  affairs  both  civil  and  domestick. 
"  As  for  Tiro,"  says  he  to  Atticus,  *'  I  see  you 
"  have  a  concern  for  him  :  though  he  is  wonder- 
"  fully  useful  to  me,  when  he  is  well,  in  every 
"  kind  both  of  my  business  and  studies,  yet  I  wish 
"  his  health,  more  for  his  own  humanity  and  modesty, 
"than  for  any  service  which  I  reap  from  him."^ 
But  his  letter  to  Tiro  himself  will  best  shew  what 
an  affectionate  master  he  was  :  for  from  the  time 
of  leaving  him,  he  never  failed  writing  to  him  by 
every  messenger  or  ship  which  passed  that  w^ay, 
though  it  w^ere  twice  or  thrice  a  day,  and  often 
sent  one  of  his  servants  express  to  bring  an  ac- 
count of  his  health :  the  first  of  these  letters  will 
give   us  a  notion  of  the  rest. 


"  M.  T.  Cicero  to  Tiro. 

"  I  thought  that  I  should  have  been  able  to  bear 
the  want  of  you  more  easily  ;  but  in  truth  I  can- 
not bear  it :  and  though  it  is  of  great  importance 


*  De  Tirone  video  tibi  cnrae  esse.     Quem  qnidem  ego,  et  sJ   mi- 
rabiles  utilitates  mihi  praebet,  cum  valet,  in  omni  genere  vel  nego- 
tiorum  vel  stiidiorum  meoriim,  tameo  propter  humanitatem  et  mo- 
destiam  raalo  salvum,  quara  propter  usum  ineum.     Ad  Att.  7.  5, 
VOL.    IT.  30 


234  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vir. 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  PauUus.    L.  Clandius  Marcellus. 

"  to  my  expected  honour,  to  be  at  Rome  as  soon  as 
''  possible,  yet  I  seem  to  have  committed  a  sin  when 
"  I  left  you.  But  since  you  were  utterly  against 
"  proceeding  in  the  voyage  till  your  health  was  con- 
*' firmed,  I  approved  your  resolution;  nor  do  I 
"  now  think  otherwise,  if  you  continue  in  the  same 
"mind.  But  after  you  have  begun  to  take  meat 
"  again,  if  you  think  that  you  shall  be  able  to  over- 
"  take  me,  that  is  left  to  your  consideration.  I  have 
"sent  Mario  to  you  with  instructions,  either  to 
"  come  with  you  to  me  as  soon  as  you  can,  or  if 
"  you  should  stay  longer,  to  return  instantly  without 
"you.  Assure  yourself,  however,  of  this,  that,  as 
"  far  as  it  can  be  convenient  to  your  health,  I  wish 
*'  nothing  more  than  to  have  you  with  me  :  but  if  it 
"  be  necessary  for  the  perfecting  your  recovery,  to 
"  stay  a  while  longer  at  Patrae ;  that  I  wish  nothing 
"  more  than  to  have  you  well.  If  you  sail  immedi- 
"  ately,  you  will  overtake  me  at  Leucas  :  but  if  you 
"  stay  to  establish  yoiu'  health,  take  care  to  have 
"  good  company,  good  weather,  and  a  good  vessel. 
"  Observe  this  one  thing,  my  Tiro,  if  you  love  me, 
"  that  neither  Mario's  coming,  nor  this  letter,  hurry 
"  you.  By  doing  what  is  most  conducive  to  your 
"health,  you  will  do  what  is  most  agreeable  to  me  : 
"weigh  all  these  things  by  your  own  discretion.  I 
"  want  you  ;  yet  so  as  to  love  you  ;  my  love  makes 
*'me  wish  to  see  you  well ;  my  want  of  you,  to  see 
"  you  as  soon  as  possible  :  the  first  is  the  better  ; 
"  take  care,  therefore,  above  all  things,  to  ^ei  well 
"again:  of  all  your  innumerable  services  to  me, 
"  that  will  be  the  most  acceptable. — The  third  of 
*'  November."* 

*  Ep.  Fara.  16.  1 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  235 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paullus.    L.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

■ r ■ . 

By  the  honour  that  he  mentions  in  the  letter,  he 
means  the  honour  of  a  triumph,  which  his  friends 
encouraged  him  to  demand  for  his  success  at  Ama- 
nus  and  Pindenissum  :  in  writing  upon  it  to  Atticus, 
he  says,  "  consider  what  you  would  advise  me  with 
"  regard  to  a  triumph,  to  which  my  friends  invite 
"  me  :  for  my  part,  if  Bibulus,  who,  while  there  was 
"  a  Parthian  in  Syria,  never  set  a  foot  out  of  the 
**  gates  of  Antioch,  any  more  than  he  did,  upon  a 
"  certain  occasion,  out  of  his  own  house,  had  not 
"solicited  a  triumph,  I  should  have  been  quiet; 
*'  but  now  it  is  a  shame  to  sit  still."*  Again,  "  as 
"  to  a  triumph,  I  had  no  thoughts  of  it  before  Bibu- 
"  lus's  most  impudent  letters,  by  which  he  obtained 
"an  honourable  supplication.  If  he  had  really 
''  done  all  that  he  has  wTitten,  1  should  rejoice  at  it, 
"  and  wish  w^ell  to  his  suit ;  but  for  him,  who  never 
"  stirred  beyond  the  walls,  while  there  was  an  enemy 
"on  this  side  the  Euphrates,  to  have  such  an  hon- 
"  our  decreed  ;  and  for  me,  whose  arm  inspired  all 
"  their  hopes  and  spirits  into  his,  not  to  obtain  the 
"  same,  will  be  a  disgrace  to  us ;  I  say  to  us :  joining 
" you  to  myself :  wherefore  I  am  determined  to 
"  push  at  all,  and  hope  to  obtain  all."t 

After  the  contemptible  account  which  Cicero 
gives  of  Bibulus's  conduct  in  Syria,  it  must  appear 
strange  to  see  him  honoured  with  a  supplication,  and 

*  Ad  Att.  6.  8. 

f  De  triumpho,  nulla  me  cupiditas  unqnain  tennit  ante  Bibuli  impn- 
dentissimas  litteras,  qiias  amplissima  supplicatio  consccuta  est.  A 
quo  si  ea  i^esta  sunt,  quae  scrip«it,  gauderem  et  bonori  faverera.  Nunc 
ilium,  qui  pedem  porta,  quoad  hostis  cis  Euphrateni  fuit,  non  extulerii, 
honore  augeri,  me,  in  cujus  cxercitu  spem  illius  cxercitus  habuit,  idem 
non  assequi,  dedccus  est  nostrum  ;  nostrum,  inquam,  te  conjungens. 
Itaque  omnia  experiar,  et,  ut  spero,  assequar.     Ad  Att.  7.2. 


236  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  vii 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  Paullus.    C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 


aspiring  even  to  a  triumph  :  but  this  was  not  for 
any  thinor  that  he  himself  had  done,  but  for  what 
his  lieutenant  Cassius  had  performed  in  his  absence, 
against  the  Parthians,  the  success  of  the  lieutenants 
being  ascribed  always  to  the  auspices  of  the  ge- 
neral, who  reaped  the  reward  and  glory  of  it :  and 
as  tlie  Parthians  were  the  most  dangerous  enemies 
of  the  republick,  and  the  more  particularly  dreaded 
at  this  time,  for  their  late  defeat  of  Crassus  ;  so  any 
advantage  gained  against  them  was  sure  to  be  well 
received  at  Rome,  and  repaid  with  all  the  honours 
that  could  reasonably  be  demanded. 

Whenever  any  proconsul  returned  from  his  pro- 
vince, with  pretensions  to  a  triumph,  his  fasces,  or 
ensigns  of  magistracy,  were  wieathed  with  laurel: 
wdth  this  equipage  Cicero  landed  at  Brundisium  on 
on  the  twenty-lifth  of  November,  where  his  wife 
Terentia  arrived  at  the  same  moment  to  meet  him ; 
so  that  tlieir  first  salutation  was  in  the  great  square 
of  the  city.  From  Brundisium  he  marched  for- 
ward by  slow  stages  towards  Rome,  making  it  his 
business  on  the  road,  to  confer  with  all  his  friends 
of  both  paVties,  who  came  out  to  salute  him,  and 
to  learn  their  sentiments  on  the  present  state  of 
affairs :  from  which  he  soon  perceived,  what  of  all 
things  he  most  dreaded,  an  universal  disposition  to 
war.  But  as  he  foresaw  the  consequences  of  it 
more  coolly  and  clearly  than  any  of  them,  so  his 
first  resolution  was  to  apply  all  his  endeavours  and 
authority  to  the  mediation  of  a  peace.  He  had  not 
yet  declared  for  either  side  ;  not  that  he  was  irreso- 
lute which  of  them  to  choose,  for  he  was  determined 
within  himself  to  follow  Pompey  ;  but  the  diffi- 
culty was,  how  to  act  in  the   mean  time  towards 


SECT.  vn. 


CICERO.  23r 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.-— L.  Aeniilius  Paullus  C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

Caesar,  so  as  to  avoid  taking  any  part  in  the  pre- 
vious decrees  which  were  prepared  against  him, 
"  for  abrogating  his  command,  and  obliging  him  to 
"  disband  his  forces,  on  pain  of  being  declared  an 
"  enemy  :"  here  he  wished  to  stand  neuter  a  while, 
that  he  might  act  the  mediator  with  the  better 
grace  and  effect.* 

In  this  disposition  he  had  an  interview  with 
Pompey  on  the  tenth  of  December,  of  which  he 
gives  the  following  account  :  "  we  were  together," 
says  he,  "  about  two  hours.  He  seemed  to  be 
*'  extremely  pleased  at  my  return  ;  he  exhorted 
"me  to  demand  a  triumph,  promised  to  do  his 
"  part  in  it,  advised  me  not  to  appear  in  the  se- 
"  nate  before  I  had  obtained  it,  lest  I  should  dis- 
"  gust  any  of  the  tribunes,  by  declaring  my  mind  : 
"  in  a  word,  nothing  could  be  more  obliging  than 
"  his  whole  discourse  on  this  subject.  But  as  to 
"  publick  affairs,  he  talked  in  such  a  strain  as  if  a 
"  w^ar  was  inevitable,  without  giving  the  least  hopes 
"  of  an  accommodation.  He  said  that  he  had  long 
"  perceived  Caesar  to  be  alienated  from  him,  but 
''  had  received  a  very  late  instance  of  it ;  for  that 
''  Hirtius  came  from  Caesar  a  few  days  before,  and 
"  did  not  come  to  see  him ;  and  when  Balbus 
*'  promised  to  bring  Scipio  an  account  of  his  busi- 
*'  ness  the  next  morning  before  day,  Hirtius  was 
"  gone  back  again  to  Caesar  in  the  night :  this  he 

*  Brundisium  venimus  vii  Ka I.  Decern!). — Tcreiitia  vero,  quae  qui- 
dein  eodera  tempore  ad  portarn  Brundisinam  veuit,  quo  ego  in  portura, 
mibi  obvia  in  foro  (uit.     Ibid. 

Mihi  (r)cx<po!:  uniira  erit.  quod  a  Pompeio  gubernabitur— die  M.  Tulli 
Cuvlof^cu.     Cu.  Pompeio  assentio — lb.  3. 

Nunc  incido  in  discriraen  ipsiim, — dabunt  operam,  ut  eliciant  sen- 
tentiam  meam — tu  autera  de  nostio  statu  cogitabis ;  priraum  quoarti- 
ficio  tueaaiiir  benevolentiam  Caesaris — lb.  1. 


238  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.— L.  Aemilius  PauUus.    C;  Claudius  Marcellus. 

"  takes  for  a  clear  proof  of  Caesar's  resolution  to 
"  break  with  him.  In  short,  I  have  no  other  com- 
<*  fort  but  in  imao;ining  that  he,  to  whom  even  his 
"  enemies  have  voted  a  second  consulship,  and  for- 
«'  tune  given  the  greatest  power,  will  not  be  so 
"  mad  as  to  put  all  this  to  hazard :  yet  if  he  be- 
^*  gins  to  rush  on,  I  see  many  more  things  to  be 
*'  apprehended  than  I  dare  venture  to  commit  to 
"  writing :  at  present  I  propose  to  be  at  Rome  on 
"the  third  of  January. "=^ 

There  is  one  little  circumstance  frequently 
touched  in  Cicero's  letters,  which  gave  him  a  par- 
ticular uneasiness  in  his  present  situation,  viz.  his 
owing  a  sum  of  money  to  Caesar,  which  he  imagin- 
ed might  draw  some  reproach  upon  him,  since  he 
thought  it  "  dishonourable  and  indecent,"  he  says, 
"to  be  a  debtor  to  one  against  whom  we  were 
''acting  in  publick  affairs:  yet  to  pay  it  at  that 
''time  would  deprive  him  of  a  part  of  the  mo- 
"  ney  which  he  had  reserved  for  his  triumph."t 
He  desires  Atticus,  however,  very  earnestly,  to 
see  it  paid,  which  was  done,,  without  doubt,  ac- 
cordingly, ""Since  we  meet  with  no  farther  men- 
tion of  it :  it  does  not  appear,  nor  is  it  easy  to 
guess,  for  what  occasion  this  debt  was  contract- 
ed, unless  it  was  to  supply  the  extraordinary  ex- 
pense of  his  buildings,  after  his  return  from  exile, 
when  he  complained  of  being  in  a  particular  want 

*  Ad  Att.  7.  4. 

t  llliid  taraen  non  desinam,  dura  adesse  te  piitabo,  de  Caesaris 
nomine  rogare,  ut  confectum  rclinquas.     lb.  5.  6. 

Milii  autera  molestissiraum  est,  quod  solvendi  sunt  nummi  Cae- 
sari,  et  instruraentura  triumphi  eo  conterendura.     Est  enim  «tywog<j.ov, 

if.vliTnKiTi-jofAivw  ;tgs59s/^sTw  esse. — lb.  7.  8. 


SECT.    VII 


CICERO.  239 


A.  Urb.  703.    Cic  57.    Coss.— L.  Aanilius  PauUus.    C.  Claudius  Marcellus. 

of  money,   from  4,hat  general   dissipation    of  his 
fortunes. 

Pompey,  finding  Cicero  \^hol]y  bent  on  peace, 
contrived  to  have  a  second  conference  with  him, 
before  he  reached  the  city,  in  hopes  to  alJay  his 
fears,  and  beat  him  off  from  that  vain  project  of 
an  accommodation,  which  might  help  to  cool  the 
zeal  of  his  friends  in  the  senate  :  he  overtook  him, 
therefore,  at  Lavernium,  and  came  on  with  him  to 
Formiae,  where  they  spent  a  whole  afternoon  in 
close  conversation.  Pompey  strongly  discouraged 
all  thoughts  of  a  pacification,  declaring,  "  that  there 
"  could  be  none  but  what  was  treacherous  and 
"  dangerous ;  and  that  if  Caesar  should  disband 
"  his  army,  and  take  the  consulship,  he  would  throw 
"  the  republick  into  confusion :  but  he  was  of 
"opinion,  that  when  he  understood  their  prepa- 
"  rations  against  him,  he  would  drop  the  consul- 
"  ship,  and  hold  fast  his  army :  but  if  he  was  mad 
"  enough  to  come  forward,  and  act  offensively,  he 
"  held  him  in  utter  contempt,  from  a  confidence  in 
*'  his  own  troops,  and  those  of  the  republick.  They 
*'  had  got  with  them  the  copy  of  a  speech  which 
*'  Antony,  one  of  the  new  tribunes,  made  to  the 
*' people  four  days  before:  it  was  a  perpetual  in- 
"vective  on  Pompey 's  conduct,  from  his  first  ap- 
"  pearance  in  publick,  with  great  complaints  against 
"  the  violent  and  arbitrary  condemnation  of  citi- 
*'  zens,  and  the  terrour  of  his  arms.  After  reading 
"  it  over  together,"  *  what  think  you,'  says  Pom- 
"  pey,  '  would  Caesar  himself  do,  if  in  possession 
"of  the  republick,  when  this  paltry,  beggarly 
"  fellow,  his  quaestor,  dares  to  talk   at  this  rale  V 


240  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  703.    Cic.  57.    Coss.—L.  Aemilius  PauUus.    C.  Clandiiu  Marcellus. 

"  On  the  whole,  Pompey  seemed  not  only  not  to 
"  desire,  but  even  to  dread  a  peace.""^ 

Cicero,  however,  would  not  still  bq  driven  from 
the  hopes  and  pursuit  of  an  accommodation :  the 
more  he  observed  the  disposition  of  both  parties, 
the  more  he  perceived  the  necessity  of  it :  the 
honest,  as  they  were  called,  were  disunited  among 
themselves:  many  of  them  dissatisfied  with  Pom- 
pey ;  all  fierce  and  violent ;  and  denouncing  no- 
thing but  ruin  to  their  adversaries;  he  clearly 
foresaw  what  he  declared  without  scruple  to  his 
friends,  "that  which  side  soever  got  the  better, 
*'  the  war  must  necessarily  end  in  a  tyranny ;  the 
"only  difference  was,  that  if  their  enemies  con- 
"  quered,  they  should  be  proscribed,  if  their  friends, 
"  be  slaves."  Though  he  had  an  abhorrence,  there- 
fore, of  Caesar's  cause,  yet  his  advice  was  to  grant 
him  his  own  terms,  rather  than  try  the  experi- 
ment of  arms,  "  and  prefer  the  most  unjust  condi- 
"  tions  to  the  justest  war :  since,  after  they  had 
'*  been  arming  him  against  themselves  for  ten  years 
"  past,  it  was  too  late  to  think  of  fighting,  when 
"  they  hath  made  him  too  strong  for  them."t 

*  lb.  7.  8. 

f  De  Repub.  quotidie  magis  tiiiieo.  Non  enim  boni,  ut  putant« 
consentinnt.  Uuos  ego  equitcs  Konianos,  quos  senatores  vidi,  qui 
acerrime  turn  caetera,  turn  hoc  iter  Pompeii  vituperarent.  Pace 
opus  est,  ex  victoria  cum  raulta  mala,  turn  certe  tyrannus  existet. — 
lb.  7.  5. 

Ut  si  victus  eris,  proscribare ;  si  viceris,  tamen  servias.     lb.  7.  7. 

Ad  paoem  hortari  non  de^ino,  quae  vel  injusta  utilior  est,  quara 
#^  justissiraum  bellura. — lb.  7.  14. 

Mallem  tantas  ei  vires  non  dedisset,  quam  nunc  tara  valenti  re- 
sisteret.     lb.  7.  3. 

Nisi  forte  liaec  illi  turn  arma  dedimus,  ut  nunc  cum  bene  paratn 
pugnareraus.     lb.  7.  G. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  241 


A.  Urb.  704.  Cic.  5S.    Coss.— G.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.    I^ntulus  Cms. 


This  was  the  sum  of  his  thoughts  and  counsels, 
when  he  arrived  at  Rome  on  the  fourth  of  January ; 
where  he  found  the  two  new  consuls  entirely  de- 
voted to  Pompey's  interests.     On  his  approach  to- 
wards the  city,  great  multitudes  came  out  to  meet 
him  with  all  possible  demonstrations  of  honour: 
his  last  stage  was  from  Pompey's  villa  near  Alba, 
because  his  own  at  Tusculum  lay  out  of  the  great 
road,  and  was  not  commodious  for  a  publick  entry  : 
on  his  arrival,  as  he  says,  he  fell  into  the  very  flame 
of  civil  discord,  and  found  the  war  in  effect  proclaim- 
ed :^  for  the  senate,  at  Scipio's  motion,  had  just 
voted  a  decree,  "  that  Caesar  should  dismiss  his  ar- 
"  my  by  a  certain  day,  or  be  declared  an  enemy  ; 
"and  when  M.  Antony  and  Q,.  Cassius,  two  of  the 
"  tribunes,  opposed  their  negative  to  it,"  as  they 
had  done  to  every  decree  proposed  against  Caesar, 
and  could  not  be  persuaded  by  the  entreaties  of 
their  friends,  to  give  way  to  the  authority  of  the 
senate,  they  proceeded  to  that  vote,  which  was  the 
last  resort  in  cases  of  extremity,  "  that  the  consuls, 
"  praetors,  tribunes,  and   all  who  were  about  the 
"  city  with  proconsular  power,  should  take  care 
''  that  the  republick  received  no  detriment."     As 
this  was  supposed  to  arm  the  magistrates  with  an 
absolute  power,  to  treat  all  men  as  they  pleased, 
whom  they  judged  to  be  enemies,  so  the  two  tri- 
bunes, together  with  Curio,  immediately  withdrew 
themselves  upon  it,  and  fled  in  disguise  to  Caesar's 
camp,  on  pretence  of  danger  and  violence  to  their 

*  Ego  ad  urbem  access!  prid.  iion.  Jan.  obviara  inihi  sic  est  prodi- 
tuiii,  ut  nihil  possit  fieri  ornatius.  Sed  incidi  in  ipsam  flammara  ci- 
vilis  discordiae  vel  potius  belli Ep.  Fam.  10    11. 

Ego  in  Tusculanum  nihil  hoc  tempore,  Deviiim  est  tj;,-  ttvuvlies-i, 
etc.     Ad  Att.  7.  /). 

TOL.    II.  .31 


"242  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  tii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 

persons,  though  none  was  yet  offered  or  designed 
to  them.* 

M.  Antony,  who  now  began  to  make  a  figure 
in  the  affairs  of  Rome,  was  of  an  ancient  and  noble 
extraction  ;  the  grandson  of  that  celebrated  states- 
man and  orator,  w  ho  lost  his  life  in  the  massacres  of 
Marius  and  Cinna :  his  father,  as  it  is  already  re- 
lated, had  been  honoured  with  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant commissions  of  the  republick  ;  but,  after 
an  inglorious  discharge  of  it,  died  with  the  charac- 
ter of  a  corrupt,  oppressive,  and  rapacious  com- 
mander. The  son,  trained  in  the  discipline  of  such 
a  parent,  whom  he  lost  when  he  was  very  young, 
launched  out  at  once  into  all  the  excess  of  riot  and 
debauchery,  and  wasted  his  whole  patrimony  be- 
fore he  had  put  on  the  manly  gown ;  shewing  him- 
self to  be  the  genuine  son  of  that  father,  who  was 
born,  as  Sallust  says,  to  squander  money,  without 
ever- employing  a  thought  on  business,  till  a  pre- 
sent necessity  urged  him.  His  comely  person, 
lively  wit,  insinuating  address,  made  young  Curio 
infinitely  fond  of  him  ;  so  that,  in  spite  of  the 
commandsgaf  a  severe  father,'  who  had  often  turn- 
ed Antony  out  of  doors,  and  forbidden  him  his 
house,  he  could  not  be  prevailed  with  to  forsake  his 
company  ;  but  supplied  him  with  money  for  his 
frolicks  and  amours,  till  he  had  involved  himself 
on  his  account  in  a  debt  of  fifty  thousand  pounds. 
This  greatly  afflicted  old  Curio  ;  and  Cicero  w^as 
called  in  to  heal  the  distress  of  the  family,  whom 

*  Antoniiis  quidem  noster  et  Q.  Cassius,  nulla  vi  e.xpuisi,  ad  Cae- 
sarem  cum  Curione  profedi  erant ;  postea  quam  senatus  consulibus, 
praetoribus,  tribunis  plebis  et  nobis,  qui  proconsules  sumus,  negotium 

dedeiat,  ut  curaremus,  ne  quid  Resp.  detrinienti  caperet Ep.  Pam^ 

IG.  11. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  243 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  *8.  Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 

the  son  entreated,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  to  inter- 
cede for  Antony,  as  well  as  for  himself,  and  not 
suffer  them  to  be  parted  :  but  Cicero  having  pre- 
vailed with  the  father  to  make  his  son  easy,  by  dis- 
charging his  debts,  advised  him  to  insist  upon  it  as 
a  condition,  and  to  enforce  it  by  his  paternal  pow- 
er, that  he  should  have  no  farther  commerce  with 
Antony.^  This  laid  the  foundation  of  an  early 
aversion  in  Antony  to  Cicero,  increased  still  by 
the  perpetual  course  of  Antony's  life,  which  for- 
tune happened  to  throw  among  Cicero's  inveterate 
enemies :  for,  by  the  second  marriage  of  his  mother, 
he  became  son-in-law  to  that  Lentulus,  who  was 
put  to  death  for  conspiring  with  Catiline,  by 
whom  he  was  initiated  into  all  the  cabals  of  a  trai- 
torous faction,  and  infected  with  principles  perni- 
cious to  the  liberty  of  Rome.  To  revenge  the 
death  of  this  father,  he  attached  himself  to  Clodius, 
and,  during  his  tribunate,  was  one  of  the  ministers 
of  all  his  violences ;  yet  was  detected  at  the  same 
time  in  some  criminal  intrigue  in  his  family,  in- 
jurious to   the  honour  of  his  patron.f     From  this 


*  Tenesne  meraoria  praetextatum  te  decoxisse  ? nemo  unquam 

puer  emptus  libidinis  causa  tarn  fuit  in  domini  potestate,  quam  tu  in 

Curionis.     Quoties  te  pater  ejus  domo  suo  ejecit  ? scisne  me  de 

rebus  mihi  notissimis  dicere  ?  recordare  tempus  illud,  cum  pater  Cu- 
rio moerens  jacebat  in  lecto ;  filius  se  ad  pedes  meos  prosternens, 
lacrymans  te  mihi  commendabat,  orabat,  ut  te  contra  patrera  suura, 
si  H.  S.  sexagies  peteret  defenderem  :  tantum  enim  se  pro  te  inter- 
cessisse  :  ipse  an  tern  amore  ardens  confirmabat,  quod  desiderium  tui 

discidii  ferre   non  posset quo  ego   tempore  tanta  mala  florentissi- 

raae  familiae  sedavi  vel  potius  sustuli :  patri  persuasi,  ut  aes  alienum 
filii  dissolvent,  etc.  (Philip.  2.  18.)  M.  Antonius,  perdundae  pecuniae 
genitus,  vacuusqiie  curls,  nisi  instantibus.  Sallust.  Histor.  Fragra. 
1.  iii. 

fTedomiP.  Lentnli  educatum (Phil.  2.   7.)     Intimus  erat  iu 

tribunatu  Clodio ejus  omnium  iucendiorum  fax — cnjiis  etiara  do- 

mi  quiddara  jam  turn  raolitus  est,  etc.  ib.  19. 


244  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcdlus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Cras. 

education  in  the  city,  he  went  abroad  to  learn  the 
art  of  war  under  Gabinius,  the  most  profligate  of 
all  generals ;  who  gave  him  the  command  of  his 
horse  in  Syria,  where  he  signalized  his  courage  in 
the  restoralion  of  king  Ptolemy,  and  acquired  the 
first  taste  of  martial  glory,  in  an  expedition  under- 
taken  against  the  laws  and  religion  of  his  country.* 
From  Egypt,  instead  of  coming  home,  where  his 
debts  would  not  suffer  him  to  be  easy,  he  went  to 
Caesar  into  Gaul,  the  sure  refuge  of  all  the  needy, 
the  desperate,  and  the  audacious :  and,  after  some 
.stay  in  that  provi.nce,  being  furnished  with  money 
and  credit  by  Caesar,  he  returned  to  Rome  to  sue 
for  the  quaestorship.f  Caesar  recommended  him  in 
a  pressing  manner  to  Cicero,  "  entreating  him  to 
"  accept  Antony's  submission,  and  pardon  him  for 
"  what  was  past,  and  to  assist  him  in  his  present 
"  suit :  with  which  Cicero  readily  complied,"  and 
obliged  Antony  so  highly  by  it,  that  he  declared  war 
presently  against  Clodius,  ***whom  he  attacked 
"  with  great  fierceness  in  the  forum,  and  would  cer- 
''  tainly  have  killed,  if  he  had  not  found  means  to 
"  hide  himself  under  some  stairs."  Antony  openly 
gave.outj'-'^that  he  owed  all  this  to  Cicero's  generosi- 
"  ty,  to  whom  he  could  never  make  amends  for  for- 
''  mer  injuries,  but  by  the  destruction  of  his  ene- 
"  my  Clodius."}     Being  chosen  quaestor,  he  went 

*  Inde  iter  Alexandriam,  contra  senatus  auctoritatein,  contra  Rem- 
pub.  et  religiones  :  sed  habebat  ducem  Gabinium,  etc.  ib. 

t  Prius  in  ultimara  Galliara  ex  Aegypto  quam  domum — venisti  e 
Gallia  ad  quaesturam  petendaqa. — ib. — vid.  Plutar.  in  Anton. 

I  Acceperam  jam  ante  Caesaris  litteras,  ut  niihi  satisfieri  paterer 
a  te — postea  nistoditus  sura  a  te,  tu  a  ine  observatus  in  petitione 
quaesturae,  quo  qnidein  tempore  P.  Clodium — in  foro  es  coiiatus  oc- 
cidere — ita  praedicabas,  te  non  existiraare  nisi  ilium  interCecisses,  un- 
quam  mihi  pro  tuis  in  me  injuriis  satis  esse  facturura — Ib.  20. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  245 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic,  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Maroellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentnius  Ctvm. 


back  immediately  to  Caesar,  without  expecting  his 
lot,  or  a  decree  of  the  senate,  to  appoint  liim  hi^ 
province  :  where,  though  he  had  all  imaginable  op- 
portunities of  acquiring  money,  yet  by  squander- 
ing, as  fast  as  he  got  it,  he  came  a  second  lime 
empty  and  beggarly  to  Rome,  to  put  in  for  the 
tribunate;  in  which  office,  after  the  example  of 
his  friend  Curio,  having  sold  himself  to  Caesar,  he 
was,  as  Cicero  says,  as  much  the  cause  of  the  en- 
suing war,  as  Helen  was  of  ihat  of  Troy.^ 

It  is  certain,  at  least,  that  Antony's  flight  gave 
the  immediate  pretext  to  it,  as  Cicero  had  foretold : 
"  Caesar,"  says  he,  "  will  betake  himself  to  arms, 
"  either  for  our  want  of  preparation,  or  if  no  re- 
"  gard  be  had  to  him  at  the  election  of  consuls ; 
"  but  especially,  if  any  tribune,  obstructing  the 
"  deliberations  of  the  senate,  or  exciting  the  peo- 
"  pie  to  sedition,  should  happen  to  be  censured  or 
*' overruled,  or  taken  off,  or  expelled,  or,  pre- 
''tending  to  be  expelled,  run  away  to  him.^f  In 
the  same  letter,  he  gives  a  short  but  true  state  of 
the  merit  of  his  cause :  "  What,"  says  he,  "  can  be 
"more  impudent?  You  have  held  your  govern* 
"  ment  ten  years,  not  granted  to  you  by  the  senate. 


Cum  se  ille  fugieos  in  scalarum  tenebras  abdidisset,  etc.  Pro  Mil. 
15. 

*  Deinde  sine  senatus  consiilto,  sine  sorte,  sine  lege  ad  Caesarem 
cucurristi.  Id  enira  iini.'in  in  terris  egestatis,  aeris  alieni,  neqnitiae, 
perditis  vitae  rationibiis  perfngiura  esse  ducebas — advolasti  egen*-  ad 
tribiinatnm,  ut   in  eo  magistratu,  si  posses,  viri  tui  siniilis  esses—ut 

Helena  Trojanis,  sic  iste  huic  Reipub.  causa  belli,  etc. Phil.  2 

21,  22. 

f  Aut  addita  causa,  si  forte  tribunus  pleb.  senatum  iinpedirns, 
aut  populum  incitans,  notatns,  aut  senatus  consulto  circunif^niptus, 
aut  sublatus  aut  expulsus  sit,  dicensve  se  expulsnm  ad  se  conlugerit 
Ad  Att.  7.  9. 


246  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.    vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com:  Lentulus  Cms. 

— ■ — — — ■■  '  ■  ■  ■  ■  .<r 

"  but  extorted  by  violence  and  faction :  the  full 
"  term  is  expired,  not  of  the  law,  but  of  your  li- 
"  centious  will :  but,  allow  it  to  be  a  law ;  it  is  now 
'*  decreed  that  you  must  have  a  successor  :  you  re- 
"  fuse,  and  say,  have  some  regard  to  me  :  do  you 
"  first  shew  your  regard  to  us :  will  you  pretend 
»*  to  Ivcep  an  army  longer  than  the  people  ordered, 
''  and  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  senate  ?"=^  but 
Caesar's  strength  lay  not  in  the  goodness  of  his 
cause,  but  of  his  troops  ;t  a  considerable  part  of 
which  he  was  now  drawing  together  towards  the 
confines  of  Italy,  to  be  ready  to  enter  into  action 
at  any  warning :  the  flight  of  the  tribunes  gave 
him  a  plausible  handle  to  begin,  and  seemed  to 
sanctify  his  attempt ;  but  "  his  real  motive,"  says 
Plutarch,  "  was  the  same  that  animated  Cyrus  and 
**  Alexander  before  him  to  disturb  the  peace  of 
^'mankind;  the  unquenchable  thirst  of  empire, 
"  and  the  wild  ambition  of  being  the  greatest  man 
"  in  the  world,  which  was  not  possible,  till  Pom- 
'*  pey  was  first  destroyed."}  Laying  hold,  there- 
fore, of  the  occasion,  he  presently  passed  the 
Rubicon,  which  was  the  boundary  of  his  prov- 
ince on  tiat  side  of  Italy,  and  marching  forward 
in  an  hostile  manner,  possessed  himself,  without 
resistance,  of  the  next  great  towns  in  his  way,  Ari- 
minum,  Pisaurum,  Ancona,  Aretium^^  &c. 

*  Ibid.  it.  Ep.  Fam.  16.  11. 

I  Alterius  ducis  causa  melior  videbatur,  alterius  erat  firmior.  Hie 
omnia  speciosa,  illic  valentia.  Pompeiura  senatus  auctoritas,  Cae- 
sarein  milituin  armavit  fiduci<^.     Veil.  Pat.  2.  49. 

I  Plutar.  in  Anton. 

^  An  ille  id  faciat,  quod  paullo  ante  decretum  est,  ut  exercitum 
citra  Uubiconera,  qui  finis  est  Galliae,  educeret  ?    Philip.  6.  3. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  247 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 


In  this  confused  and  disordered  state  of  the  city, 
Cicero's  friends  were  soliciting  the  decree  of  his 
triumph,  to  which  the  whole  senate  signified  their 
ready  consent :  but  "  the  consul  Lentulus,  to  make 
"the  favour  more  particularly  his  own,  desired 
'*  that  it  might  be  deferred  for  a  while,  till  the  pub- 
"  lick  affairs  were  better  settled,  giving  his  word, 
"  that  he  would  then  be  the  mover  of  it  himself."* 
But  Caesar's  sudden  march  towards  Rome  put  an 
end  to  all  farther  thoughts  of  it,  and  struck  the 
senate  with  such  a  panick,  that,  as  if  he  had  been 
already  at  the  gates,  they  resolved  presently  to 
quit  the  city,  and  retreat  towards  the  southern 
parts  of  Italy.  All  the  principal  senators  had 
particular  districts  assigned  to  their  care,  to  be 
provided  with  troops,  and  all  materials  of  defence 
against  Caesar.  Cicero  had  Capua,  with  the  in- 
spection of  the  seacoast  from  Formiae :  he  would  not 
accept  any  greater  charge,  for  the  sake  of  pre- 
serving his  authority  in  the  task  of  mediating  a 
peace  ;t  and,  for  the  same  reason,  when  he  per- 
ceived his  new  province  wholly  unprovided  against 
an  enemy,  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  hold  Ca- 

-  Ttaque  cura  Caesar,  amentia  quadam  raperetur,  et  Arirainium, 
Pisaunira,  Anconain,  Arretium  occupavisset,  urbera  reliqnimiis.  Ep. 
Fam.  16.  12. 

*  Nobis  tamen  inter  has  turbas  senatiis  frequens  flagitavit  triuni- 
phum  :  sed  Lentulus  consul,  quo  majus  suuin  beneficium  faceret,  si- 
mul  atque  expedisset  quae  essent  necessaria  de  Ilepub.  dixit  se  rela- 
tnrura.    Ep.  Fam.  IG.  11. 

t  Ego  negotio  praesum  non  turbulento :  vult  enira  me  Pompeius 
esse,  quern  tota  haec  Campana  et  maritima  ora  habeat  s^/o-xoTcr,  ad 
quera  delectus  et  summa  negotii  referatur.     Ad  Att.  7.  11. 

Ego  adhnc  orae  raaritimae  praesum  a  Formiis.  Nullum  majus  ne- 
gotium  suscipere  volui,  quo  plus  apud  ilium  raeae  litlerae  cohorta- 
tionesque  ad  pacem  valerent.     Ep.  P'am.  16.  12. 


248  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    Li  Com.  Lentalus  Cnis. 

pua  without  a  stroiii^  orari  ison,  he  resigned  his  em- 
ployment, and  chose  not  to  act  at  all.'* 

Capua  had  always  been  the  common  seminary 
or  place  of  educating  Gladiators  for  the  great  men 
of  Rome  ;  where  Caesar  had  a  famous  school  of 
them  at  this  time,  which  he  had  long  maintained 
under  the  best  masters  for  the  occasions  of  his 
publick  shews  in  the  city ;  and,  as  they  w^ere  very 
numerous  and  well  furnished  with  arms,  there  was 
reason  to  apprehend  that  they  would  break  out, 
and  make  some  attempt  in  favour  of  their  master, 
which  might  have  been  of  dangerous  consequence 
in  the  present  circumstances  of  the  republick  :  so 
that  Pompey  thought  it  necessary  to  take  them 
out  of  their  school,  and  distribute  them  among  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  the  place,  assigning  two 
to  each  master  of  a  family,  by  which  he  secured 
them  from  doing  any  mischief.f 

While  the  Pompeian  party  was  under  no  small 
dejection  on  account  of  Pompey's  quitting  the  city, 
^^ 

*  Nam  certe  neque  turn  peccavi,  cum  imparatam  jam  Capuam,  non 
solum  ignav'iae  delectus,  sed  etiam  perfidiae  suspicionem  lugiens,  ac- 
cipere  nohii      Ad  Att.  8.  12. 

Quod  tibi  ostenderam,  cum  a  me  Capuam  rejiciebara  :  quod  feci 
non  vitaudi  oneris  causa,  sed  quod  videbam  teneri  illam  urbem  sine 
exercitu  non  posse.     Ep.  Cic.  ad  Pomp.     Ad  Att.  8.  11. 

As  Cicero,  when  proconsul  of  Cilicia,  often  mentions  the  dioceses 
that  were  annexed  to  his  government,  (Ep.  Fam.  13.  67.)  so  in  this 
command  of  Capua  he  calls  himself  the  Episcopus  of  the  Campanian 
coast ;  which  shews,  that  these  names,  which  were  appropriated  af- 
terwards in  the  Christian  cHurch  to  characters  and  powers  ecclesias- 
tical, carried  with  them  in  their  original  use,  the  notion  of  a  real  au- 
thority and  jurisdiction. 

t  Gladiaiores  Caesaris,  qui  Capuae  sunt — sane  commode  Pompeius 
distribuit,  binos  singulis  patrihus  familiarum.  Scutorum  id  ludo  ba 
liierunt  eruptionem  facturi  fuisse  dicebantur — sane  multumineo  Reip. 
provisum  est.     Ad  Att.  7.  H. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  249 


A.  Urb.  704    Cic.  58.    Co«s.— C,  Claudius  Marcellus.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Cn«. 

and  retreatino-  from  the  approach  of  Caesar,  T. 
Labienus,  one  of  the  chief  commanders  on  the 
other  side,  deserted  Caesar,  and  came  over  to  them, 
which  added  some  ncAV  life  to  their  cause,  and  raised 
an  expectation,  that  many  more  would  follow  his 
example.  Labienus  had  eminently  distins^uished 
himself  in  the  Gallick  war,  where,  next  to  Caesar 
himself,  he  had  borne  the  principal  part ;  and,  by  Cae- 
sar's favour,  had  raised  an  immense  fortune  :  so  that 
he  was  much  caressed,  and  carried  about  every 
where  by  Pompey,  who  promised  himself  great 
service  from  his  fame  and  experience,  and  especially 
from  his  credit  in  Caesar's  army,  and  the  knowledge 
of  all  his  counsels  :  but  his  account  of  things,  like 
that  of  all  deserters,  was  accommodated  ralher  to 
please  than  to  serve  his  new  friends ;  representing 
the  weakness  of  Caesar's  troops,  their  aversion  to 
his  present  designs,  the  disaffection  of  the  two 
Gauls,  and  disposition  to  revolt,  the  contrary  of  all 
which  was  found  to  be  true  in  the  experiment :  and 
as  he  came  to  them  single,  without  bringing  with 
him  any  of  those  troops  with  which  he  had  acquired 
his  reputation,  so  his  desertion  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  ruin  his  own  fortunes,  without  doing  any 
service  to  Pompey.^ 


*Maximain  auteiii  plagam  accepit,  qnod  is,  qui  summam  aiictorita- 
tem  in  illiis  extrcitu  habebat,  T.  Labienus,  sociiis  sceleris  esse  noluit : 
reliquit  ilium,  et  nobiscuin  est:  multiqne  idem  facturi  dicuutur.  Ep. 
Fam.  )6.  12. 

Ajiqiiantum  animi  videtur  attulisse  nobis  Labienus — Ad  Att.  7.  13. 

Labienum  secnm  habet  (Pompeius)  non  dubitantemde  irabecillitate 
Caesaris  copiarnm  :  cujus  adventu  Cnaeus  noster  multo  animi  plus 
habet.     lb.  7.  16. 

-fortis  in  armis 


Caesaris  Labienus  erat .-  nunc  transfuga  vilis 

Luran.  5.  34.5. 

VOL.    II.  ^2 


250  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.     Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Maicellus.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms. 

But  what  gave  a  much  better  prospect  to  all 
honest  men,  was  the  proposal  of  an  accommodation, 
which  came  about  this  time  from  Caesar;  who, 
while  he  was  pusliing  on  the  war  with  incredible 
vigour,  talked  of  nothing  but  peace,  and  endeavour- 
ed particularly  to  persuade  Cicero,  ''that  he  had 
**no  other  view  than  to  secure  himself  from  the  in- 
"  suits  of  his  enemies,  and  yield  the  first  rank  in 
''the  state  to  Pompey."*  The  conditions  were, 
"that  Pompey  should  go  to  his  government  of 
"  Spain,  that  his  new  levies  should  be  dismissed, 
"and  his  garrisons  withdrawn,  and  that  Caesar 
"  should  deliver  up  his  provinces,  the  farther  Gaul 
"  to  Domitius,  the  hither  to  Considius,  and  sue  for 
"  the  consulship  in  person,  without  requiring  the 
"  privilege  of  absence."  I'hese  terms  were  readily 
embraced  in  a  grand  council  of  the  chiefs  at  Capua, 
and  young  L.  Caesar,  who  brought  them,  w^as  sent 
back  with  letters  from  Pompey.  and  the  addition 
only  of  one  preliminary  article,  '^  that  Caesar  in 
"  the  mean  while  should  recall  his  troops  from  the 
'*  towns,  w4iich  he  had  seized  beyond  his  own  juris- 
"  diction,  so  that  the  senate  might  return  to  Rome, 
"  and  settle  the  whole  affair  with  honour  and  free- 
"dom."t  Cicero  was  present  at  this  council,  of 
which  he  gave  an  account  to  ^tticus  ;  "  I  came  to 
"  Capua,"  (says  he,)  "  yesterday,  the   twenty-sixth 


*  Balbus  major  ad  me  scrihit,  nihil  malle  Caesarem,  quam  principe 
Pompeio,  sine  metu  vivere.     Tu,  piito,  haec  ciedis.     Ad  Att.  8.  9. 

t  Feruntur  omnino  couditionqs  ab  illo,  ut  Pompeius  eat  in  Ilispaniam  ; 
dilectns,  qui  sunt  habiti,  et  pr'aesidia  nostra  diinittantur  :  se  ulterio- 
rera  Galliam  Doraitio,  citeriorem  Coiisidio  xXoniano — traditurum.  Ad 
consulatus  petitionem  se  veiiturum  :  ueque  sejam  velle,  absente  se, 
rationem  sui  haberi.     Ep.  Fain.  16.  12.  Ad  Att.  7.  14. 

Accepimns  conditiones  ;  sed  ita,  ut  removeat  praesidia  ex  iis  Joels 
quae  occupavit,  ut  sine  metu  de  iis  ipsis  conditiouibus  iloiuae  senatus 
haberi  possit.    Ibid. 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  251 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.  L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Cms. 

"  of  January,  where  I  met  the  consuls,  and  many 
"  of  our  order :  they  all  wished  that  Caesar  would 
"  stand  to  his  conditions,  and  withdraw  his  troops  : 
"  Favonius  alone  was  ao;ainst  all  conditions  imposed 
"  by  Caesar,  but  was  little  reoarded  by  the  council : 
"  for  Cato  himself  would  now  rather  live  a  slave, 
"  than  fi^ht ;  and  declares,  that  if  Caesar  recall  his 
"  garrisons,  he  will  attend  the  senate,  when  the  con- 
*'  ditions  come  to  be  settled,  and  not  go  to  Sicily, 
"  where  his  service  is  more  necessary,  which  I  am 
"  afraid  will  be  of  ill  consequence  : — there  is  a 
"  strange  variety  in  our  sentiments ;  the  greatest 
"part  are  of  opinion,  that  Caesar  will  not  stand  to 
"  his  terms,  and  that  these  otfers  are  made  only  to 
"  hinder  our  preparations  :  but  I  am  apt  to  think 
"  that  he  will  withdraw  his  troops  :  for  he  gets  the 
"  better  of  us  by  being  made  consul,  and  with  less 
"  iniquity,  than  in  the  way  which  he  is  now  pur- 
" suing;  and  we  cannot  possibly  come  off  without 
"  some  loss ;  for  we  are  scandalously  unprovided 
"  both  with  soldiers,  and  with  money,  since  all  that 
"  which  was  either  private  in  the  city,  or  public k  in 
"  the  treasury,  is  left  a  prey  to  him."^ 

During  the  suspense  of  this  treaty,  and  the  ex- 
pectation of  Caesar's  answer,  Cicero  began  to  con- 
ceive some  hopes  that  both  sides  were  relenting,  and 
disposed  to  make  up  the  quarrel :  Caesar,  from  a 
reflection  on  his  rashness,  and  the  senate,  on  their 
w^ant  of  preparation  :  but  he  still  suspected  Caesar, 
and  the  sending  a  message  so  important  by  a  person 
so  insignificant  as  young  Luctus  Caesar,  looked, 
(he  says,)  as  if  he  had  done  it  by  way  of  contempt, 

*  Ad  Att.  7.  15. 


252  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius    Marcellus.  L.  Com.  Leutulus  Crus. 


or  with  a  view  to  disclaim  it,  especially  when,  after 
offering  conditions,  which  were  likely  to  be  accept- 
ed, he  would  not  sit  still  to  wait  an  answer,  but  con- 
tinued his  march  with  the  same  dilio;ence,  and  in 
the  same  hostile  manner,  as  before.^  His  suspi- 
cions proved  true  ;  for  by  letters  which  came  soon 
after  from  Furnius  and  Curio,  he  perceived,  that 
they  made  a  mere  jest  of  the  embassy .f 

It  seems  very  evident,  that  Caesar  had  no  real 
thoughts  of  peace,  by  his  paving  no  regard  to 
Pompey's  answer,  and  the  trifling  reasons  which 
he  gave  for  slighting  it  :$  but  he  had  a  double 
view  in  offering  those  conditions ;  for,  by  Pompey's 
rejecting  them,  as  there  was  reason  to  expect 
from  his  known  aversion  to  any  treaty,  he  hoped  to 
load  him  with  the  odium  of  the  war  ;  or,  by  his  em- 
bracing them,  to  slacken  his  preparations,  and  re- 
tard his  design  of  leaving  Italy ;  whilst  he  him- 
self, in  the  mean  time,  by  following  him  with  a 
celerity  that  amazed  every  body,?  might  chance  to 


*  Spero  in  praesentia  pacena  dos  habere.  Nam  et  ilium  turoris,  et 
hunc  nostrum  c8^iarum  suppoenitet.     Ibid. 

Tamen  vereor  ut  his  ipsis  (Caesar)  contentus  sit.  Nam  cum  ista 
mandatadedisset  L.  Caesari,  debuit  esse  paulo  quietior,  dum  respousa 
referrentur.     lb.  7.  17. 

Caesarem  quidem,  L,  Caesare  euro  mandatis  de  pace  misso,  taraea 
aiunt  acerrirae  loca  occnpare  — lb.  18. 

L.  Caesarem  vidi — ut  id  ipsum  mihi  ille  videatur  irridendi  causa 
fecisse,  qui  tautis  de  rebus  huic  mandata  dederit,  nisi  forte  non  dedit, 
et  hie  serraone  aliquo  arrepto  pro  mandatis  abusus  est — lb.  13. 

t  Accepi  litteras  tuas,  Philotimi,  Furnii,  Curionis  ad  Furnium,  qui- 
bus  irridet  L.  Caesaris  legationeYn lb.  19. 

I  Caes.  Comment,  de  Bell.  civ.  1.  1. 

§0  celeritatem  incredibilem  ! — Ad  Att.  7.  22.  Cicero  calls  him 
a  monster  of  vigilance  and  celerity (lb.  8.  9.)  for,  from  his  pas- 
sage of  thp  Rubicon,  though  he  was  forced  to  take  in  all  the  great 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  253 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.   58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus     C.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 


come  up  with  him  before  he  could  embark,  and 
give  a  decisive  blow  to  the  war ;  from  wliich  he 
had  nothing  to  apprehend,  but  its  being  drawn 
into  length.  "I  now  plainly  see,"  says  Cicero, 
"  though  later  indeed  than  I  could  have  wished,  on 
"account  of  the  assurances  given  me  by  Balbus, 
"that  he  aims  at  nothing  else,  nor  has  ever  aimed 
*'  at  any  thing  from  the  beginning,  but  Pompey's 
"  life."^ 

If  we  consider  this  famous  passage  of  the  Ru- 
bicon, abstractedly  from  the  event,  it  seems  to 
have  been  so  hazardous  and  desperate,  that  Pom- 
pey  miti^ht  reasonably  contemn  the  thought  of  it, 
as  of  an  attempt  too  rash  for  any  prudent  man  to 
venture  upon.  If  Caesar's  view  indeed  had  been 
to  possess  himself  only  of  Italy,  there  could  have 
been  no  difficulty  in  it :  his  army  was  undoubtedly 
the  best  which  was  then  in  the  world  ;  flushed  with 
victory,  animated  with  zeal  for  the  person  of  their 
general,  and  an  over-match  for  any  which  could  be 
brouo;ht  against  it  into  the  field  ;  but  this  single 
army  was  all  that  he  had  to  trust  to  ;  he  had  uo  re- 
source :  the  loss  of  one  battle  was  certain  ruin  to 
him  ;  and  yet  he  must  necessarily  run  the  risk  of 
many,  before  he  could  s^ain  his  end  :  for  the  whole 
empire  was  armed  against  him ;  every  province 
offered  a  fresh  enemy,  and  a  fresh  field  of  action, 

towns  on  his  road,  and  spent  seven  days  before  Corfinium,  yet  in  less 
than  two  months  he  marched  through  the  whole  length  of  Italv,  and 
came  before  the  gates  of  Brundisiura  before  Pompev  could  elnbirk 
on  the  9th  of  March.     Ad  Att.  9.  13. 

*  Intelligo  serins  equidem  quam  vellem,  propter  epi^tolas  sermo- 
nesque  Baibi,  sed  video  plane,  nihil  aliiid  agi,  nihil  actum  ab  initio, 
quam  ut  huDC  occideret.     Ad  Att.  9.  f^ 


254  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.  Com.  Lentulus   Crus. 


where  he  was  like  to  be  exposed  to  the  same  dan- 
ger as  on  the  plains  of  Pharsalia.  But  above  all, 
his  enemies  were  masters  of  the  sea,  so  that  he 
could  not  transport  his  forces  abroad,  without  the 
hazard  of  their  being  destroyed  by  a  superiour 
fleet,  or  of  being  starved  at  land  by  the  diflSculty 
of  conveying  supplies  and  provisions  to  them : 
Pompey  relied  chiefly  on  this  single  circumstance, 
and  was  persuaded,  that  it  must  necessarily  de- 
termine the  war  in  his  favour:^  so  that  it  seems 
surprizing,  how  such  a  superiority  of  advantage, 
in  the  hands  of  so  great  a  commander,  could  pos- 
sibly fail  of  success ;  and  we  must  admire  rather 
the  fortune  than  the  conduct  of  Caesar,  for  car- 
rying him  safe  through  all  these  difficulties  to  the 
possession  of  the  empire. 

Cicero  seldom  speaks  of  his  attempt,  but  as  a 
kind  of  madness,t  and  seemed  to  retain  some 
hopes  to  the  last,  that  he  would  not  persist  in  it : 
the  same  imagination  made  Pompey  and  the  senate 
so  resolute  to  defy  when  they  were  in  no  condi- 
tion to  oppose  him.  Caesar,  on  the  other  hand,  might 
probably  imagine,  that  their  stifliiess  proceeded 
from  a  vain  conceit  of  their  strength,  which  would 
induce  them  to  venture  a  battle  with  him  in  Ita- 
ly ;  in  which  case  he  was  sure  enough  to  beat  them  : 
so  that  both  sides  were  drawn  farther,  perhaps,  than 
they  intended,  by  mistaking  each  other's  views. 
Caesar,  I  say,  might  well  apprehend  that  they  de- 


*  Existimat,  (Poinpeius)  qui  mare  teneat,  eiim  necesse  reruiii  po- 
tiri — itaque  navalis  apparatus  ei  semper  antiquissima  cura  fuit.  lb. 
10.  8. 

f  Cum  Caesar  amentia  quadam  raperetur — Ep.  Fam.  16.  12. 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  255 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcelln*.    C.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 


signed  to  tny  their  strength  with  him  in  Italy  :  for 
that  was  the  constant  persuasion  of  the  whole  par- 
ty, who  thought  it  the  best  scheme  which  could  be 
pursued:  Pompey  humoured  them  in  it,  and  al- 
ways talked  big  to  keep  up  their  spirits;  and 
though  he  saw  from  tlie  first,  the  necessity  of  quit- 
ting Italy,  yet  he  kept  the  secret  to  himself,  and 
wrote  word  at  the  same  time  to  Cicero,  that  he 
should  have  a  firm  army  in  a  few  days,  with  which 
he  would  march  against  Caesar  into  Picenum,  so 
as  to  give  them  an  opportunity  of  returning  to  the 
city.*  The  plan  of  the  war,  as  it  was  commonly 
understood,  was  to  possess  themselves  of  the  prin- 
cipal posts  of  Italy,  and  act  chiefly  on  the  defen- 
sive, in  order  to  distress  Caesar  by  their  different 
armies,  cut  off  his  opportunities  of  forage,  hinder 
his  access  to  Rome,  and  hold  him  continually  em- 
ployed, till  the  veteran  army  from  Spain,  under 
Pompey's  lieutenants,  Afranius,  Petreius,  and  Yar- 
ro,  could  come  up  to  finish  his  overthrow.!  This 
was  the  notion  which  the  senate  entertained  of 
the  war ;  they  never  conceived  it  possible  that 
Pompey  should  submit  to  the   disgrace  of  flying 

*  Omnes  nos  a7rgs<roav«Tct/c,  expertes  sui  tanti  et  tarn  inusitati  consilii 
relinqiiebat.     Ad  Alt    6.  8. 

Pompeius — ad  ine  scribit,  paucis  diebiis  se  firmum  exercitum  ha- 
biturum.  speraque  aflert,  si  in  Picciiuin  agrum  ipse  venerit,  nos  Ro- 
inam  redituros  esse.     lb.  7.  16. 

f  Siiscepto  aiitem  bello,  ant  teneuda  sit  nrbs,  aut  ea  relicta,  ille 
commeatu  et  reliqnis  copiis  intercliidendus — Ad  Alt.  7.9. 

Sin  autem  ille  snis  conditionibns  stare  noluerit,  bellum  paratura 
€st : — tantunimodo  nt  eiim  intercludamus,  ne  ad  nrbeni  possit  ac- 
cedere  :  quod  sperabamus  fieri  posse :  dilectus  enim  inagnos  habeba- 
mns— ex  Hispaniaque  sex  legiones  et  magna  auxilia,  Afranio  et  Pe- 
treio  ducibus.  habet  a  tergo.  Videtur,  si  insauiet,  posse  oppriuii, 
modo  ut  urbe  salva — Hp.  Fain.  16.  12. 

Siimma  autem  spes  Afranium  cum  magnis  copiis  adventare — Ad. 
Att.  8.  3.  *       . 


256  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.    Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 

before  Caesar,  and  2;iving  up  Italy  a  prey  to  his 
enemy :  in  this  confidence  Domitius,  with  a  very 
considerable  force,  and  some  of  the  principal  sen- 
ators, threw  himself  into  Corfinium,  a  strong'  town 
at  the  foot  of  tiie  Apennine,  on  the  Adriatick  side, 
where  he  proposed  to  make  a  stand  a<>;ainst  Cae- 
sai,  and  stop  the  progress  of  his  march;  but  he 
lost  all  his  troops  in  the  attem})t,  to  the  number  of 
three  lei^ions,  for  want  of  knowing  Pompey's  se- 
cret. Pompey,  indeed,  when  he  saw  what  Domi- 
tius intended,  pressed  him  earnestly,  by  several 
letters,  to  come  away  and  join  with  him,  telling 
him,  "  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  any  oppo- 
"  sition  to  Caesar,  till  their  whole  forces  were  unit- 
''  ed  ;  and  that  as  to  himself,  he  had  with  him  only 
"the  two  legions,  which  were  recalled  from  Cae- 
"  sar,  and  were  not  to  be  trusted  against  him; 
"  and  if  Domitius  should  entangle  himself  in  Cor- 
"finium,  so  as  to  be  precluded  by  Caesar  from  a 
"  retreat,  that  he  could  not  come  to  his  relief  with 
"  so  weak  an  army,  and  bade  him  therefore  not  to 
"  be  surprised  to  hear  of  his  retiring,  if  Caesar 
"  should  persist  to  march  towards  him  :"'^  yet 
Domitius,  prepossessed  with  the  opinii  n,  that  Ita- 
ly was  to  be  the  seat  of  the  w^ar,  and  that  Pompey 
would  never  suffer  so  good  a  body  of  troops,  and 
so  many  of  his  best  friends,  to  be  lost,  would  not 
quit  the  advantageous  post  of  Corfinium,  but  de- 
pended still  on  being  relieved  ;  and  when  he  was 
actually  besieged,  sent  Pompey  word,  how  easily 
i — . — __. 

*  Nos  disjecta  maiiu  pares  adversariis  esse  non  possuinus. 

QnaiJiobrera  nolito  coiiunoveii,  si  audieris  me  regredi,  si  forte  Cae- 
sar ad  m  '  voiiiet.  — eliam  aique  etiam  te  horlor,  uL  c»im  oicni  copia 
quam  priraum  ad  me  venias. — vid.  Lpist.  Pomp,  ad  Domit.  Ad  Att. 
8.  12. 


SECT.  vn.  CICERO.  257 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic,  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 

Caesar  might  be   intercepted  between  tlieir  two 


armies 


* 


Cicero  was  as  much  disappointed  as  any  of  the 
rest ;  he  had  never  dreamt  of  their  being  oblio;ed 
to  quit  ftaly,  till  by  Pompey's  motions  he  perceiv- 
ed at  last  his  intentions ;  of  which  he  speaks  with 
great  severity,  in  several  of  his  letters,  and  begs 
Atticus's  advice  upon  that  new  face  of  their  affairs ; 
and,  to  enable  Atticus  to  give  it  the  more  clearly, 
he  explains  to  him,  in  short,  what  occurred  to  his 
own  mind  on  the  one  side  and  the  other.  "  The 
"  great  obligations,"  says  he,  "  which  I  am  under 
"  to  Pompey,  and  my  particular  friendship  with 
"  him,  as  well  as  the  cause  of  the  republick  itself, 
"  seem  to  persuade  me,  that  I  ought  to  join  my 
"  counsels  and  fortunes  with  his.  Besides,  If  I 
"  stay  behind,  and  desert  that  band  of  the  best  and 
"  most  eminent  citizens,  I  must  fall  under  the  pow- 
"  er  of  a  single  person,  who  gives  me  many  proofs, 
"  indeed,  of  being  my  friend,  and  whom,  as  you 
''  know,  I  had  long  aoo  taken  care  to  make  such, 
"  from  a  suspicion  of  this  very  storm,  which  now 
**  hangs  over  us ;  yet  it  should  be  well  considered, 
"  both  how  far  I  may  venture  to  trust  him,  and 
"  supposing  it  clear,  that  I  may  trust  him,  whether 
"  it  be  consistent  with  the  character  of  a  firm  and 
"  honest  citizen  to  continue  in  that  city,  in  which 
"  he  has  borne  the  greatest  honours,  and  performed 
"  the  greatest  acts,  and  where  he  is  now  invested 
"  with  the  most  honourable  priesthood,  when  it  is 


*  Domitius  ad  Pompeium — mittit,  qui  petant  atque  orent,  ut  sibi 
subveniat  .  Caesareni  diiobus  exercitibus,  et  loconim  angnstiis  later- 
cliidi  posse,  IVu  mm  toque  prohiberi,  etc. 

Caes.  Comment,  de  Bell.  civ.  I.  i. 


VOL.  If.  .3:^ 


258  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  yiu 

A.  Urb.  704.  Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.    Lentulus  Crus. 


"  to  be  attended  with  some  danger,  and  perhaps 
"  with  some  disorrace,  if  Fompey  should  ever  re- 
"  store  the  republick.  These  are  the  difficulties 
"  on  the  one  side ;  let  us  see  what  there  are  on  the 
"  other :  Nothing  has  hitherto  been  done  by  our 
"  Pompey,  either  with  prudence  or  courage  ;  I  may 
"  add  also  nothing  but  what  was  contrary  to  my 
"  advice  and  authority  :  I  will  omit  those  old  sto- 
"  ries ;  how  he  first  nursed,  raised  and  armed  this 
"man  against  the  republick;  how  he  supported 
"  him  in  carrying  his  laws  by  violence,  and  with- 
"  out  regard  to  the  auspices ;  how  he  added  the 
"  farther  Gaul  to  his  government,  made  himself  his 
"  son-in-law,  assisted  as  augur  in  the  adoption  of 
"  Clodius,  was  more  zealous  to  restore  me,  than  to 
"  prevent  my  being  expelled ;  enlarged  the  term  of 
**  Caesar's  command,  served  him  in  all  his  affairs  in 
*'  his  absence,  nay,  in  his  third  consulship,  after  he 
''  began  to  espouse  the  interests  of  the  republick, 
"  how  he  insisted,  that  the  ten  tribunes  should 
"jointly  propose  a  law  to  dispense  with  his  absence 
"  in  suing  for  the  consulship,  which  he  confirmed 
"  afterwards  by  a  law  of  his?  own,  and  opposed  the 
"  consul  Marcellus,  when  he  moved  to  put  an  end 
"  to  his  government  on  the  first  of  March  :  but  to 
"  omit,  I  say,  all  this,  what  can  be  more  dishonour- 
"  able,  or  shew  a  greater  want  of  conduct  than  this 
"  retreat,  or  rather  shameful  flight  from  the  city  ? 
"  what  conditions  were  not  preferable  to  the  neces- 
"  sity  of  abandoning  our  country  ?  the  conditions, 
"  I  confess,  were  bad;  yet  what  can  be  worse  than 
"  this  ?  but  Pompey,  you'll  say,  will  recover  the 
"  republick  :  when  ?  or  what  preparation  is  there 
"for  it?  is  not  all  Picenum  lost?  is  not  the  way 
"  left  open  to  the  city  ?  is  not  all  our  treasure  both 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  259 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L..Corn.  Laitulus  Crus. 

"  publick  and  private  ^iven  up  to  the  enemy  ?  in 
"  a  word,  there  is  no  party,  no  forces,  no  places  of 
"  rendezvous  for  the  friends  of  the  republick  to 
"  resort  to :  Apulia  is  chosen  for  our  retreat ;  the 
"  weakest  and  remotest  part  of  Italy,  which  im- 
"  plies  nothing  but  despair,  and  a  design  of  flying 
"  by  the  opportunity  of  the  sea,"  &c.^  In  another 
letter,  "  there  is  but  one  thing  wanting,"  says  he, 
"  to  complete  our  friend's  disgrace ;  his  failing  to 
"  succour  Domitius :  nobody  doubts  but  that  he 
"  will  come  to  his  relief;  yet  I  am  not  of  that 
"  mind.  Will  he  then  desert  such  a  citizen,  and 
"  the  rest,  whom  you  know  to  be  with  him  ?  espe- 
"  cially  when  he  has  thirty  cohorts  in  the  town : 
"  yes,  unless  all  things  deceive  me,  he  will  desert 
"  him  :  he  is  strangely  frightened ;  means  nothing 
"  but  to  fly ',  yet  you,  for  I  perceive  what  your 
*^  opinion  is,  think  that  I  ought  to  follow  this  man. 
"  For  my  part,  I  easily  know  whom  I  ought  to  fly, 
"  not  whom  I  ought  to  follow.  As  to  that  saying 
**  of  mine,  which  you  extol,  and  think  worthy  to 
"  be  celebrated,  that  I  had  rather  be  conquered 
*^  with  Pompey,  than  conquer  with  Caesar ;  it  is 
"  true,  I  still  say  so ;  but  w^ith  such  a  Pompey  as 
'"  he  then  was,  or  as  I  took  him  to  be :  but  as  for 
"  this  man,  who  runs  away,  before  he  knows  from 
^'whom,  or  whither;  who  has  betrayed  us  and 
"  ours,  given  up  his  country,  and  is  now  leaving 
"Italy;  if  I  had  rather  be  conquered  with  him, 
"  the  thing  is  over,  I  am  conquered,  &c."t 

There  was  a  notion,  in  the  mean  while,  that  uni- 
versally prevailed  through  Italy,  of  Caesar's  cruel 

*  Ad  Att.  8.  5.  i  Ad  Att.  8.  7. 


260  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com,  I^ntulus  Crus. 

and  revengeful  temper,  from  which  horrible  effects 
were  apprehended :  Cicero  himself  was  stron^^ly 
possessed  with  it,  as  appears  from  many  of  his 
letters,  where  he  seems  to  take  it  for  granted  that 
he  would  be  a  second  Phalaris,  not  a  Pisistratus ; 
a  bloody,  not  a  gentle  tyrant.  This  he  inferred 
from  the  violence  of  his  past  life ;  the  nature  of 
his  present  enterprise ;  and,  above  all,  from  the 
character  of  his  friends  and  followers ;  who  were, 
generally  speaking,  a  needy,  profligate,  audacious 
crew;  prepared  for  every  thing  that  was  despe- 
rate.^ It  was  affirmed,  likewise,  with  great  confi- 
dence, that  he  had  openly  declared,  that  he  was 
now  coming  to  revenge  the  deaths  of  Cn.  Carbo, 
M.  Brutus,  and  all  the  other  Marian  chiefs,  whom 
Pompey,  when  acting  under  Sylla,  had  cruelly 
put  to  death  for  their  opposition  to  the  Syllan 
cause.t  But  there  was  no  real  ground  for  any  of 
these  suspicions :  for  Caesar,  who  thought  tyranny, 
as  Cicero  says,  the  greatest  of  goddesses,  and  whose 
sole  view  it  had  been  through  life  to  bring  his 
affairs  to  this  crisis,  and  to  make  a  bold  pusii  for 
empire,  had,  from  the  observation  of  past  times, 
and  the  fat^e  of  former  tyrants,  laid  it  down  for  a 
maxim,  that  clemenc}'  in  victory  was  the  best 
means  of  securing  the  stability  of  it.J     Upon  the 


*  Istum  ciijus  cfuMgia-fxcv  times,  omnia  teterrime  facturum  puto. 
Ad  Att.  7.  12. 

Incertura  est  Phalaiimae  an  Pisistratum  sit  iraiiaturus.     lb.  20. 

Nam  caedein  video  si  vicerit — et  regnura  non  modo  Romana  ho- 
mini  sed  ne  Persae  quidem  tolerabile.     lb.  10.  8. 

Qui  hie  potest  se  gerere  non^  perdite  ?  vita,  mores  ante  facta,  ra- 
tio suscepti  negotii,  socii.     lb.  9.  2.  it.  9.  19. 

f  Atque  eum  loqiii  qiiidam  «u9sv7<Ha?  narrabant ;  Cn.  Carbonis,  M, 
Bruti  se  poenas  perseqni,  etc.     Ad  Att.  9.  14. 

X  Tw  ^tov  juiyKTrw  uxri*  iX^iv  Tv^a.vyii'A.      Ad  Att.  7.   11. 

Tentemiis  hoc  modo,  si  possumus,  omnium  voluntates  recuperare. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  261 


A.  Urb.  r04.    Cic  58.  Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 


surrender,  therefore,  of  Corfinium,  where  he  had 
the  first  opportunity  of  givin^j;  a  publick  specimen 
of  himself,  he  shewed  a  noble  example  of  mo- 
deration, by  the  generous  dismission  of  Domitius, 
and  all  the  other  senators  who  fell  into  his  hands ; 
among  whom  was  Lentulus  Spinther,  Cicero's  par- 
ticular friend.*  This  made  a  great  turn  in  his  fa- 
vour, by  easing  people  of  the  terrours  which  they 
had  before  conceived  of  him,  and  seemed  to  con- 
firm what  he  affected  every  where  to  give  out, 
that  he  sought  nothing  by  the  war  but  the  security 
of  his  person  and  dignity.  Pompey,  on  the  other 
hand,  appeared  every  day  more  and  more  despi- 
cable, by  fiyino;  before  an  enemy,  whom  his  pride 
and  perverseness  were  said  to  have  driven  to  the 
necessity  of  taking  arms — "  Tell  me,  1  beg  of  you," 
says  Cicero  "  what  can  be  more  wretched,  than  for 
"  the  one  to  be  gathering  applause  from  the  worst 
"  of  causes,  the  other  giving  offence  in  the  best  ? 
"  the  one  to  be  reckoned  the  preserA^er  of  his  ene- 
"  mies,  the  other  the  deserter  of  his  friends  ?  and, 
"  in  truth,  though  I  have  all  the  afTection  w  hich 
''  I  ought  to  have  for  our  friend  Cnaeus,  yet  I 
"  cannot  excuse  his  not  coming  to  the  relief  of 
'"■  such  men  :  for  if  he  was  afraid  to  do  it,  what  can 
•*be  more  paltry  ?  or  if,  as  some  think,  lie  thought 
*'  to  make  his  cause  the  more  popular  by  their 
"destruction,   what    can    be   more  unjust  ?"t    &;c. 


et  diuturna  Tictoria  iiti :  qiioniam  reliqui  crudelitate  odium  effiigere 
non  potuerunt,  neque  victoriam  diutius  tenere,  praeter  unum  L  Syf- 
lam,  quem  imitaturiis  non  sum.  Haec  nova  sit  ratio  vincendi ;  ut 
misericordia  et  liberalitate  nos  muniamus.  Ep,  Caesaris  Ad  Opp. 
Att.  9.  7. 

*  Caes.  Comment.  I.  i.  Plutar.  in  Caes. 

f  Sed  obsecro  te,   quid  hoc   miserius,   quara   alterum  plausus   in 
foedissima  causa  quaere  re ;  alterum  offensiones  in  optima?  alterum 


262  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vn. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Co8s.—C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Cora.  Lentulus  Crus. 


From  this  first  experiment  of  Caesar's  clemency, 
Cicero  took  occasion  to  send  him  a  letter  of  com- 
pliment, and  to  thank  him  particularly  for  his 
generous  treatment  of  Lentulus,  who,  when  con- 
sul, had  been  the  chief  author  of  his  restoration ; 
to  which  Caesar  returned  the  following  answer : 


Caesar,  Emperour,  to  Cicero,  Emperour. 

"  You  judge  rightly  of  me,  for  I  am  thoroughly 
"  known  to  you,  that  nothing  is  farther  removed 
"from  me  than  cruelty;  and,  as  I  have  a  great 
"  pleasure  from  the  thing  itself,  so  I  rejoice  and 
"  triumph  to  find  my  act  approved  by  you :  nor 
"  does  it  at  all  move  me,  that  those  who  were  dis- 
"  missed  by  me,  are  said  to  be  gone  away  to  re- 
"  new  the  war  against  me :  for  I  desire  nothing 
^' more,  than  that  I  may  always  act  like  myself; 
"they  like  themselves.  I  wish  that  you  would 
"  meet  me  at  the  city,  that  I  may  use  your  coun- 
"  sel  and  assistance  as  I  have  hitherto  done  in  all 
'*  things,  INothing,  1  assure  you,  is  dearer  to  me 
*' than  D^ttbella;  I  will  owe  this  favour  therefore 
"  to  him :  nor  is  it  possible  for  him  indeed  to  be- 
"  have  otherwise,  such  is  his  humanity,  his  good 
"  sense,  and  his  affection  to  me.     Adieu."^ 

When   Pompey,    after  the    unhappy    affair  of 
Corfinium,    found   himself    obliged    to    retire   to 


existimari  conservatorem  infraicorum,  alterum  desertoreiu  amico- 
runi  ?  et  raehercule  quamvis  araemiis  Cnaeuin  nostrum,  ut  et  faciraiis 
ct  debemus,  tamen  hoc,  quod  talibus  viris  non  subvenit,  landare  non 
possum.  Nam  sive  tirauit  quid  ignavius?  sive,  ut  quidara  putant, 
fneliorem  suam  causam  illorum  caede  tore  putavit,  quid  injustius  ?  Ad 
Att.  8.  9. 

*  Ad  Att.  9.  16. 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  263 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 


Brundisiiim,  and  to  declare,  what  he  had  never 
before  directly  owned,  his  design  of  quitting  Italy, 
and  carrying  the  war  abroad  ;^  he  was  very  desi- 
rous to  draw  Cicero  along  with  him,  and  wrote 
two  letters  to  him  at  Formiae,  to  press  him  to 
come  away  directly  ;  but  Cicero,  already  much 
out  of  humour  with  him,  was  disgusted  still  the 
more  by  his  short  and  negligent  manner  of  writing, 
upon  an  occasion  so  important  :t  the  second  of 
Pompey's  letters  with  Cicero's  answer,  will  ex- 
plain the  present  state  of  their  affairs,  and  Cice- 
ro's sentiments  upon  them. 


On.  Pompeius  Magnus  Proconsul,  to  M.    Cicero.  Emperour. 

"If  you  are  in  good  health,  I  rejoice :  I  read 
"your  letter  with  pleasure:  for  I  perceived  in  it 
"  your  ancient  virtue  by  your  concern  for  the  com- 
"  mon  safety.  The  consuls  are  come  to  the  army, 
"  which  I  had  in  Apulia :  I  earnestly  exhort  you, 
"  by  your  singular  and  perpetual  affection  to  the 
''  republick  to  come  also  to  us,  that  by  our  joint 
"  advice  we  may  give  help  and  relief  to  the  afflict- 
"ed  state.  I  would  have  you  make  the  Appian 
"  way  your  road,  and  come  in  all  haste  to  Brundi- 
"  sium.     Take  care  of  your  health." 


"  M.  Cicero,  Emperour,  to  Cn.  Magnus.  Proconsul. 

"  When  I  sent  that  letter  which  was  delivered  to 
"you  at  Canusium,  I   had  no   suspicion  of  your 

*  Qui   ainisso  Cornfinio  denique    me  certiorem  cousilii  sui   fecit^ 
Ibid.  9.  2. 

t  Kpistolarura  Pompeii  diianira,  qiias  ad  me  misit,  negligentiam 


264  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  aiarcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crua. 

"  crossing  the  sea  for  the  service  of  the  republick, 
"  and  was  in  great  hopes  that  we  should  be  able, 
"  either  to  bring  about  an  accommodation,  which 
"to  me  seemed  the  most  useful,  or  to  defend  the 
"republick  with  the  greatest  dignity  in  Italy.  In 
"the  mean  time,  before  my  letter  reached  you, 
''  being  informed  of  your  resolution,  by  the  in- 
"  structions  which  you  sent  to  the  consuls,  I  did 
"  not  wait  till  I  could  have  a  letter  from  you,  but 
''  set  out  immediately  towards  you  with  my  brother 
"and  our  children  for  Apulia.  When  we  were 
*'  come  to  Theanum,  your  friend  C.  Messius,  and 
"many  others,  told  us,  that  Caesar  was  on  the  road 
''to  Capua,  and  would  lodge  that  very  night  at  Ae- 
"  sernia  :  I  was  much  disturbed  at  it,  because,  if  it 
''  was  true,  I  not  only  took  my  journey  to  be  pre- 
"  eluded,  but  myself  also  to  be  certainly  a  prisoner. 
"  I  went  on  therefore  to  Cales  with  intent  to  stay 
"  there,  till  I  could  learn  from  Aesernia  the  certain- 
''  ty  of  my  intelligence  :  at  Cales  there  was  brought 
"  to  me  a  copy  of  the  letter,  which  you  wrote  to 
"  the  consul  Lentulus,  with  which  you  sent  the  copy 
«'  also  of  one  that  you  had  received  from  Domitius, 
"dated  tluf  eighteenth  of  February,  and  signified, 
"  that  it  was  of  great  importance  to  the  republick, 
"that  all  the  troops  should  be  drawn  together,  as 
"  soon  as  possible,  to  one  place ;  yet  so  as  to  leave 
"a  sufficient  garrison  in  Capua.  L^pon  reading 
"  these  letters,  I  was  of  the  same  opinion  with  all 
"the  rest,  that  you  were  resolved  to  march  to  Cor- 
**finium  with  all  your  forces,  whither,  when  Caesar 
«'  lay  before  the  town,  I  thou^ ht   it  impossible  for 


iiH.amque  in  scribendo  dilisentiam,  voiui  tibi  notam  esse  :  earum  ex- 
empla  ad  te  raisi.     lb.  8.  11- 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  265 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms. 


"  me  to  come.  While  this  affair  was  in  the  utmost 
"  expectation,  we  were  infoimed  at  one  and  the  same 
"  time,  both  of  what  had  happened  at  Corfinium, 
"and  that  you  were  actually  marching  towards 
"  Brundisium  :  and  when  I  and  my  brother  resolved, 
"  without  hesitation,  to  follow  you  thither,  we  were 
"advertised  by  many,  who  came  from  Samnium, 
"  and  Apulia,  to  take  care  that  we  did  not  fall  into 
"  Caesar's  hands,  for  that  he  was  upon  his  march  to 
"  the  same  places  where  our  road  lay,  and  would 
"  reach  them  sooner  than  we  could  possibly  do. 
"  This  being  the  case,  it  did  not  seem  advisable  to 
"  me,  or  my  brother,  or  any  of  our  friends,  to  run 
"  the  risk  of  hurting,  not  only  ourselves,  but  the 
"  republick,  by  our  rashness :  especially  when  we 
"  could  not  doubt,  but  that,  if  the  journey  had  been 
"  safe  to  us,  we  shou.ld  not  then  be  able  to  overtake 
"  you.  In  the  mean  while  I  received  your  letter 
"  dated  from  Canusium  the  twenty-first  of  Febru- 
"  ary,  in  which  you  exhort  me  to  come  in  all  haste 
"  to  Brundisium :  but  as  I  did  not  receive  it  till  the 
"  tw^enty-ninth,  I  made  no  question  but  that  you 
"  were  already  arrived  at  Brundisium,  and  all  that 
"  road  seemed  wholly  shut  up  to  us,  and  we  our- 
"  selves  as  surely  intercepted  as  those  who  were 
"  taken  at  Corfinium  :  for  we  did  not  reckon  them 
"  only  to  be  prisoners,  who  were  actually  fallen  into 
"  the  enemy's  hands,  but  those  too  not  less  so,  who 
"  happen  to  be  enclosed  within  the  quarters  and 
"garrisons  of  their  adversaries.  Since  this  is  our 
"  case,  I  heartily  w^ish,  in  the  first  place,  that  I  had 
"  always  been  with  you,  as  I  then  told  you  when  I 
"  relinquished  the  command  of  Capua,  which  I  did 
"  not  do  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  trouble,  but  be- 
••  cause  I  saw  that  the  town  could  not  he  held  wit h- 

TOL.    TT.  /51 


266  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vii, 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  MarceJlus.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 

"  out  an  army,  and  was  unwilling  that  the  same  ac- 
"  cident  should  happen  to  me,  which  to  my  sorrow 
"  has  happened  to  some  of  our  bravest  citizens  at 
"  Corfinium :  but  since  it  has  not  been  my  lot  to  be 
"  with  you,  I  wish  that  1  had  been  made  privy  to 
*'  your  counsels  :  for  I  could  not  possibly  suspect, 
"  and  should  sooner  have  believed  any  thing,  than 
'^that,  for  the  good  of  the  republick,  under  such  a 
"  leader  as  you,  we  should  not  be  able  to  stand  our 
"ground  in  Italy:  nor  do  I  now  blame  your  con- 
"  duct ,  but  lament  the  fate  of  the  republick  ;  and 
"  though  I  cannot  comprehend  what  it  is  which  you 
"  have  followed,  yet  I  am  not  the  less  persuaded, 
"  that  you  have  done  nothing  but  with  the  greatest 
''reason.  You  remember,  I  believe,  what  my 
"  opinion  always  was  ;  first,  to  preserve  peace,  even 
''  on  bad  conditions  ;  then  about  leaving  the  city  ; 
"  for  as  to  Italy,  you  never  intimated  a  tittle  to  me 
"  about  it :  but  I  do  not  take  upon  myself  to  think 
"  that  my  advice  ought  to  have  been  followed  :  I 
"followed  yours  ;  nor  that  for  the  sake  of  the  re- 
"  publick,  of  which  I  despaired,  and  which  is  now 
"  overturned,  so  as  not  to  be  raised  up  again  with- 
"out  a  '^vil  and  most  pernicious  war:  I  sought 
"  you  ;  desired  to  be  with  you  ;  nor  will  1  omit  the 
"  first  opportunity  which  offers  of  effecting  it.  I 
"easily  perceived,  through  all  this  affair,  that  I  did 
"  not  satisfy  those  who  are  fond  of  fighting :  for  1 
"made  no  scruple  to  own,  that  I  wished  for  noth- 
"  ing  so  much  as  peace ;  not  but  that  I  had  the 
"  same  apprehensions, from  it  as  they  ;  but  I  thought 
"  them  more  tolerable  than  a  civil  war ;  then,  after 
"  the  war  was  begun,  when  I  saw  that  conditions  of 
"  peace  were  offered  to  you,  and  a  full  and  honour- 
"  able  answer  given  to  them,  I  began  to  weigh  and 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  267 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.  Com.  Lentulus  Cnis. 


"  deliberate  well  upon  my  own  conduct,  which,  con- 
"  sideling  your  kindness  to  me,  I  fancied  that  I 
*'  should  easily  explain  to  your  satisfaction :  I  re- 
"  collected  that  I  was  the  only  man,  who,  for  the 
"  greatest  services  to  the  publick,  had  suffered  a 
"  most  wretched  and  cruel  punishment :  that  I  was 
"the  only  one,  who,  if  I  offended  him,  to  whom,  at 
"  the  very  time  when  we  were  in  arms  against  him, 
*'  a  second  consulship  and  most  splendid  triumph 
"  was  offered,  I  should  be  involved  again  in  all  the 
''  same  struggles  ;  so  that  my  person  seemed  to  stand 
"  always  exposed  as  a  publick  mark  to  the  insults 
"  of  profligate  citizens :  nor  did  I  suspect  any  of 
"these  things  till  I  was  openly  threatened  with 
"  them,  nor  was  I  so  much  afraid  of  them,  if  they 
"  were  really  to  befall  me,  as  I  judged  it  prudent 
"  to  decline  them,  if  they  could  honestly  be  avoid- 
"  ed.  You  see,  in  short,  the  state  of  my  conduct 
''  while  we  had  any  hopes  of  peace  ;  what  has 
"  since  happened  deprived  me  of  all  power  to  do 
*'  any  thing :  but  to  those  whom  I  do  not  please  I 
"  can  easily  answer,  that  I  never  was  more  a  friend 
''to  C.  Caesar  than  they,  nor  they  ever  better 
"friends  to  the  republick  than  myself:  the  only 
"  difference  between  me  and  them,  is,  that  as  they 
"  are  excellent  citizens,  and  I  not  far  removed  from 
"that  character,  it  was  my  advice  to  proceed  by 
"  way  of  treaty,  which  I  understood  to  be  ap- 
"  proved  also  by  you ;  theirs  by  way  of  arms ;  and 
"  since  this  method  has  prevailed,  it  shall  be  my 
"  care  to  behave  myself  so,  that  the  republick  may 
"  not  want  in  me  the  spirit  of  a  true  citizen,  nor  you 
"  of  a  friend.     Adieu."^' 


*  Ad  Att.  8.  11. 


260  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.   Corn.  Lentulus   Crus. 

The  disgust  which  Pompey's  manaojement  had 
given  him,  and  which  he  gently  intimates  in  this 
letter,  was  the  true  reason  why  he  did  not  join 
him  at  this  time :  he  had  a  mind  to  deliberate  a 
while  longer  before  he  took  a  step  so  decisive : 
this  he  owns  to  Atticus,  where,  after  recounting 
all  the  particulars  of  his  own  conduct,  which  were 
the  most  liable  to  exception,  he  adds,  "  I  have 
"  neither  done  nor  omitted  to  do  any  thing,  which 
*'  has  not  both  a  probable  and  prudent  excuse — 
"  and,  in  truth,  was  willing  to  consider  a  little  lon- 
"  ger  what  was  light  and  fit  for  me  to  do."=^  The 
chief  ground  of  his  deliberation  was,  that  he  still 
thought  a  peace  possible,  in  which  case  Pompey 
and  Caesar  would  be  one  again,  and  he  had  no 
mind  to  give  Caesar  any  cause  to  be  an  enemy  to 
him,  when  he  was  become  a  friend  to  Pompey. 

While  things  were  in  this  situation,  Caesar  sent 
young  Balbus  after  the  consul  Lentulus,  to  en- 
deavour to  persuade  him  to  stay  in  Italy,  and  re- 
turn to  the  city,  by  the  offer  of  every  thing  that 
could  tempt  him :  he  called  upon  Cicero  on  his 
way,  wha^ives  the  following  account  of  it  to  At- 
ticus :  "  Young  Balbus  came  to  me  on  the  twenty- 
"  fourth  in  the  evening,  running  in  all  haste  by 
'^private  roads,  after  Lentulus,  with  letters  and 
''instructions  from  Caesar,  and  the  offer  of  any 
*'  government,  if  he  will  return  to  Rome  ;  but  it 
"  will  have  no  effect  unless  they  happen  to  meet : 
"  he  told  me  that  Caes9.r  desired  nothins:  so  much 


*  Nihil  praetermissum  est,  quod  non  habeat  sapientem  exciisatio- 
nem,  et  plane  quid  rectum,  etquid  faciendum  mihi  esset,  diutius  cosi- 
tare  raalui.    lb.  8. 12. 


SECT.  VI 


CICERO.  269 


A.  Urb<  704i    Cie.  58.    Cos8.-^C.  ClaudiQs  Marcellus.  L.  Corn.  Lentulns  €rns. 


"  as  to  overtake  Pompey  ;  which  I  believe ;  and  to 
**  be  friends  with  him  again  ;  which  I  do  not  be- 
"  lieve ;  and  begin  to  fear,  that  all  his  clemency 
"  means  nothin^:  else  at  last  but  to  give  that  one 
"  cruel  blow.  The  elder  Balbus  writes  me  word, 
*'  that  Caesar  wishes  nothing  more  than  to  live  in 
"  safety,  and  yield  the  first  rank  to  Pompey.  You 
*'  take  him,  1  suppose,  to  be  in  earnest."* 

Cicero  seems  to  think,  that  Lentulus  might  have 
been  persuaded  to  stay,  if  Balbus  and  he  had  met 
together ;  for  he  had  no  opinion  of  the  firmness 
of  these  consuls,  but  says  of  them  both,  on  an- 
other occasion,  that  they  were  more  easily  moved 
by  every  wind,  than  a  feather  or  a  leaf.  He  re- 
ceived another  letter  soon  after  from  Balbus,  of 
which  he  sent  a  copy  to  Attic  us,  '*  that  he  might 
"  pity  him,"  he  says,  "  to  see  w^hat  a  dupe  they 
"  thought  to  make  of  him."t 


Balbus  to  Cicero,  Emperour. 

"  I  conjure  you,  Cicero,  to  think  of  some  me- 
"  thod  of  making  Caesar  and  Pompey  friends  again, 
"  who  by  the  perfidy  of  certain  persons  are  now 
"  divided  :  it  is  a  work  highly  worthy  of  your  vir- 
*'  tue :  take  my  word  for  it,  Caesar  will  not  only 
"  be  in  your  j)ower,  but  think  himself  infinitely 
"obliged  to  you,  if  you  would  charge  yourself 


*  Ad.  Att.  8.  9. 

t  Nee  me  consoles  movent,  qui  ipsi  pluma  aut  folio  facilius  mo- 
ventur,  nt  vicem  meam  doleres,  cum  me  deridcri  videres.  lb.  8. 
15. 


170  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vir. 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus     C.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms. 

*'with  this  affair.  I  should  be  glad  if  Pompey 
"  would  do  so  too  ;  but  in  the  present  circumstan- 
*'  ces,  it  is  what  I  wish  rather  than  hope,  that  he 
"  may  be  brought  to  any  terms  :  but  whenever  he 
"  gives  over  flying  and  fearing  Caesar,  I  shall  not 
*'  despair,  that  your  authority  may  have  its  weight 
"  with  him.  Caesar  takes  it  kindly,  that  you  were 
"for  Lentulus's  staying  in  Italy,  and  it  was  the 
"  greatest  obligation  which  you  could  confer  upon 
"  me :  for  I  love  him  as  much  as  I  do  Caesar  him- 
"self:  if  he  had  suffered  me  to  talk  to  him  as 
*'  freely  as  we  used  to  do,  and  not  so  often  shun- 
"ned  the  opportunities  which  I  sought  of  confer- 
"  ring  with  him,  I  should  have  been  less  unhappy 
*'  than  I  now  am  :  for  assure  yourself  that  no  man 
'*  can  be  more  afflicted  than  I,  to  see  one,  who  is 
"  dearer  to  me  than  myself,  acting  his  part  so  ill 
"  in  his  consulship,  that  he  seems  to  be  any  thing 
"  rather  than  a  consul :  but,  should  he  be  dispos- 
"  ed  to  follow  your  advice,  and  take  your  word 
''for  Caesar's  good  intentions,  and  pass  the  rest 
"  of  his  consulship  at  Rome,  I  should  begin  to 
''hope,  that,  by  your  authority,  and  at  his  mo- 
"tion,  PoEhpey  and  Caesar  may  be  made  one 
"again,  with  the  approbation  even  of  the  sen- 
"ate.  Whenever  this  can  be  brought  about,  I 
"  shall  think  that  I  have  lived  long  enough  :  you 
''will  entirely  approve,  I  am  sure,  what  Caesar 
"  did  at  Corfinium  ;  in  an  affair  of  that  sort, 
"  nothing  could  fall  out  better,  than  that  it  should 
"be  transacted  without  blood.  I  am  extremely 
"glad,  that  my  nephew's  visit  was  agreeable  to 
"you;  as  to  what  he  said  on  Caesar's  part,  and 
'*  what  Caesar  himself  wrote  to  you,  I  know  Cae- 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  2ri 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius    Marcellus.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 


"  sar  to  be  very  sincere  in  it,  whatever  turn  his  af- 
"  fairs  may  take."^ 

Caesar,  at  the  same  time,  was  extremely  solici- 
tous, not  so  much  to  gain  Cicero,  for  that  was 
not  to  be  expected,  as  to  prevail  with  him  to 
stand  neuter.  He  wrote  to  him  several  times  to 
that  effect,  and  employed  all  their  common  friends 
to  press  him  with  letters  on  that  head  :t  who,  by 
his  keeping  such  a  distance  at  this  time  from  Pom- 
pey,  imagining  that  they  had  made  some  impres- 
sion, began  to  attempt  a  second  point  with  him, 
viz.  to  persuade  him  to  come  back  to  Rome,  and 
assist  in  the  councils  of  the  senate,  which  Caesar 
designed  to  summon  at  his  return  from  following 
Pompey :  with  this  view,  in  the  hurry  of  his 
march  towards  Brundisium,  Caesar  sent  him  the 
following  letter. 


Caesar,  Emperour,  to  Cicero,  Emperour. 

"  When  I  had  but  just  time  to  see  our  friend 
"  Furnius,  nor  could  conveniently  speak  with,  or 
"  hear  him,  was  in  haste,  and  on  my  march,  having 
"  sent  the  legions  before  me,  yet  I  could  not  pass 
"  by  without  writing,  and  sending  him  to  you  with 
"  my  thanks  ;  though  I  have  often  paid  this  duty 
"  before,  and  seem  likely  to  pay  it  oftener,  you 
"  deserve  it  so  well  of  me.  I  desire  of  you  in  a 
"  special  manner,  that,  as  I  iiope  to  be  in  the  city 

*  Ad  Att.  8.  1^. 

f  Quod  qiiaeris  quid  Caesar  ad  me  scripserit.  Quod  saepe  :  gratis- 
simum  sibi  esse  quod  qiiierim  :  oratque  ut  in  eo  perseverein.  Balbus 
iQiDor  haec  eadeiu  mandata.     lb.  8.  11. 


272  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vn. 


A.  Utb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss — C.  Claudius  Marcdlus.  L.  Com.  Lentidus  Crus. 

*'  shortly,  I  may  see  you  there,  and  have  the  bene- 
^'  fit  of  your  advice,  your  interest,  your  authority, 
"  your  assistance  in  all  things.  But  to  return  to 
"  the  point :  you  will  pardon  the  haste  and  brevity 
"  of  my  letter,  and  learn  the  rest  from  Furnius." 
To  which  Cicero  answered. 


Cicero,  Emperour,  to  Caesar,  Emperour. 

"  Upon  reading  your  letter,  delivered  to  me  by 
"  Furnius,  in  which  you  pressed  me  to  come  to  the 
*'  city,  1  did  not  so  much  wonder  at  what  you  there 
"  intimated,  of  your  desire  to  use  my  advice  and 
"  authority,  but  was  at  a  loss  to  find  out  what  you 
"  meant  by  my  interest,  and  assistance  :  yet  1  flat- 
"  tered  myself  into  a  persuasion,  that,  out  of  your 
"  admirable  and  singular  wisdom,  you  are  desirous 
"  to  enter  into  some  measures  for  establishing  the 
"  p^ace  and  concord  of  the  city ;  and  in  that  case, 
"  I  looked  upon  my  temper  and  character  as  fit 
"  enough  to  be  employed  in  such  a  deliberation.  If 
"  the  case  be  so,  and  you  have  any  concern  for  the 
*'  safety  5f  our  friend  Pompey,  and  of  reconciling 
"  him  to  yourself,  and  to  the  republick,  you  will 
'*  certainly  find  no  man  more  proper  for  such  a  work 
"  than  I  am,  who,  from  the  very  first,  have  always 
"  been  the  adviser  of  peace,  both  to  him  and  the 
"  senate  ;  and,  since  this  recourse  to  arms,  have  not 
''  meddled  with  any  part  of  the  war,  but  thought 
"  you  to  be  really  injured  by  it,  while  your  ene- 
"  mies  and  enviers  were  attempting  to  deprive  you 
"  of  those  honours  which  the  Roman  people  had 
"  granted  you.  But  as,  at  that  time,  I  was  not 
*'  only   a  favourer  of  your   dignity,   but   an  en- 


SECT,  vir,  CICERO.  273 


A.  Urb.  704.  Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 


"  courao^er  also  of  others  to  assist  you  in  it ;  so  now 
"  the  dignity  of  Pompey  greatly  affects  tne  :  for 
*'  many  years  ago,  I  made  choice  of  you  two,  with 
"  whom  to  cultivate  a  particular  friendship,  and  to 
*'  be,  as  I  now  am,  most  strictly  united.  Where- 
"  fore  I  desire  of  you,  or  rather  beg  and  implore 
'^  with  all  my  piayers,  that  in  the  hurry  of  your 
"  cares  you  would  indulge  a  moment  to  this  thought, 
''  how  by  your  generosity,  I  may  be  permitted  to 
"  shew  myself  an  honest,  grateful,  pious  man,  in 
"  remembering  an  act  of  the  greatest  kindness  to 
"  me.  If  this  related  only  to  myself,  1  should 
"  hope  still  to  obtain  it  from  you  :  but  it  con- 
"  cerns,  I  think,  both  your  honour  and  the  re- 
"  publick,  that  by  your  means,  I  should  be  allow- 
"•  ed  to  continue  in  a  situation  the  best  adapted  to 
"  promote  the  peace  of  you  two,  as  well  as  the 
"  general  concord  of  all  the  citizens.  After  I  had 
"  sent  my  thanks  to  you  before  on  the  account  of 
"  Lentulus ;  for  giving  safety  to  him  who  had  given 
"it  to  me;  yet,  upon  reading  his  letter,  in  which 
''  he  expresses  the  most  grateful  sense  of  your 
"  liberality,  I  took  myself  to  have  received  the 
"  same  grace  from  you,  which  he  had  done :  to- 
"  wards  whom,  if  by  this  you  perceive  me  to  be 
"  ungrateful,  let  it  be  your  care,  I  beseech  you, 
"  that  I  may  be  so  too  towards  Pompey."^ 

Cicero  was  censured  for  some  passages  of  this 
letter,  which  Caesar  took  care  to  make  publick, 
viz.  the  compliment  on  Caesar's  admirable  ivisdom ; 
and  above  all,  the  acknowledgment  of  his  be- 
ing injartd  by  his  adversaries  in  the  present  war : 

■  Ad  Att.  9:  6.  11 
VOL.    IT.  .^f) 


274  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  mu 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Maieellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 

in  excuse  of  which,  he  says,  "that  he  was  not  sor- 
"  ry  for  the  publication  of  it,  for  he  himself  had 
*'  2;iven  several  copies  of  it ;  and,  considering  what 
'^  had  since  happened,  was  pleased  to  have  it  known 
*'  to  the  world  how  much  he  had  always  been  in- 
*'  clined  to  peace  ;  and  that,  in  urging  Caesar  to  save 
''  his  country,  he  thought  it  his  business  to  use 
*'  such  expressions  as  were  the  most  likely  to  gain 
"  authority  with  him,  without  fearing  to  be  thought 
*'  guilty  of  flattery,  in  urging  him  to  an  act  for 
*'  which  he  would  gladly  have  thrown  himself  even 
''  at  his  feet."^ 

He  received  another  letter,  on  the  same  subject, 
and  about  the  same  time,  written  jointly  by  Bal- 
bus  and  Oppius,  two  of  Caesar's  chief  confidents. 


Balbus  and  Opptus  to  M.  Cicero. 

'^  The  advice,  not  only  of  little  men,  such  as  we 
''  are,  but  even  of  the  greatest,  is  generally  weighed, 
"  not  by  the  intention  of  the  giver,  but  the  event ; 
*'  yet,  relying  on  your  humanity,  we  will  give  you 
"  what  we  take  to  be  the  best,  in  the  case  about 
"  which  you  wrote  to  us ;  w  hich,  though  it  should 
"  not  be  found  prudent,  yet  certainly  flows  from 
*'  the  utmost  fidelity  and  affection  to  you.  If  we 
"  did  not  know  from  Caesar  himself,  that,  as  soon 


*  Epistolam  raeam  quod  pcrvulgatam  scribis  esse  non  fero  moleslc. 
Quin  etiara  ipse  multis  dedi  describeirdam.  Ea  enim  et  acciderunt 
jam  et  impendent,  ut  testatum  esse  velim  de  pace  qnid  senserira. 
Cum  autera  eum  hortarer,  cum  praesertim  hominem,  non  videbar  uUo 
raodo  facilius  moturus,  quam  si  id,  quod  eum  hortarec  convenire  ejus 
sapientiae  dicerem.  Earn  si  adrairabilem,  dixi,  cum  eum  ad  sahitem 
patriae  hortarer,  uon  sum  veritus,  ne  viderer  assentiri,  cuitaliin  re 
Jubenter  me  ad  pedes  abjecissem,  etc.     lb.  8.  9. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  275 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.  Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 


^'  as  he  comes  to  Rome,  he  will  do  what  in  our 
"judgment  we  think  he  ought  to  do,  treat  about  a 
"  reconciliation  between  him  and  Pompey,  we 
"  should  give  over  exhorting  you  to  come  and 
"take  part  in  those  deliberations;  that  by  your 
''  help,  who  have  a  strict  friendship  with  them  both, 
"the  whole  affair  may  be  settled  with  ease  and 
"  dignity  :  or  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  believed  that 
"  Caesar  would  not  do  it,  and  knew  that  he  was  re- 
"  solved  upon  a  war  with  Pompey,  we  should 
"  never  try  to  persuade  you  to  take  arms  against 
"  a  man  to  whom  you  have  the  greatest  obliga- 
"  tions,  in  the  same  manner  as  we  have  always  en- 
"  treated  you  not  to  fight  against  Caesar.  But 
"  since,  at  present,  we  can  only  guess  rather  than 
**  know  what  Caesar  will  do,  we  have  nothing  to 
"  offer  but  this,  that  it  does  not  seem  agreeable  to 
"  your  dignity,  or  your  fidelity,  so  w^ell  known  to 
"  all,  when  you  are  intimate  with  them  both,  to 
"take  arms  against  either:  and  this  we  do  not 
^'  doubt  but  Caesar,  according  to  his  humanity,  will 
"  highly  approve  :  yet  if  you  judge  proper,  we 
"  will  write  to  him,  to  let  us  know  what  he  will 
"  really  do  about  it ;  and  if  he  returns  us  an  an- 
"  swer,  will  presently  send  you  notice,  what  we 
"  think  of  it,  and  give  you  our  word,  that  we  will 
"  advise  only  what  we  take  to  be  most  suitable  to 
"  your  honour,  not  to  Caesar's  views ;  and  are 
"  persuaded,  that  Caesar,  out  of  his  indulgence 
"  to  his  friends,  will  be  pleased  with  it."*  This 
joint  letter  was  followed  by  a  separate  one  from 
Balbus. 

*  Ad  Att.  9.  8. 


276  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  tii. 


A.  Urb.  704.    CIc  58.    Coss.— C.   Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  lientulus  Crus. 

Balbus     to  Cicero,  Emperour. 

"  Immediately  after  I  had  sent  the  common 
'  letter  from  Oppius  and  myself,  I  received  one 
'  from  Caesar,  of  which  I  have  sent  you  a  copy ; 
'  whence  you  will  perceive  how  desirous  he  is 
'  of  peace,  and  to  be  reconciled  with  Pompey, 
'  and  how  far  removed  from  all  thoughts  of  cruel- 
'  ty.  It  gives  me  an  extreme  joy,  as  it  certainly 
'  ought  to  do,  to  see  him  in  these  sentiments.  As 
'  to  yourself,  your  fidelity,  and  your  piety,  I  am 
'entirely  of  the  same  mind,  my  dear  Cicero,  with 
'  you,   that  you   cannot,  consistently    with   your 

*  character  and  duty,  bear  arms  against  a  man  to 
'  whom  you  declare  yourself  so  greatly  obliged  : 
'  that  Caesar  will  approve  this  resolution,  I  cer- 
'  tainly  know,  from  his  singular  humanity  ;  and 
'  that  you  will  perfectly  satisfy  him,  by  taking  no 
'part  in  the  war  against  him,  nor  joining  your- 
'  self  to  his  adversaries :  this  he  will  think  suffi- 
'  cient  not  only  from  you,  a  person  of  such  dig- 
'  nity  and  splendour,  but  has  allowed  it  even  to 
'  me,  not  to  be  found  in  that  camp,  which  is  like- 

*  ly  to  be'^formed  against  Lentulus  and  Pompey, 
'from  whom  I  have  received  the  greatest  obliga- 
'  tions :  '  It  was  enough,'  he  said,  '  if  I  perform- 
'ed  my  part  to  him  in  the  city  and  the  gown, 
'which  I  might  perform  also  to  them  iff  thought 
'fit:'  wherefore  I  now  manage  al]  Lentulus's  af- 
'  fairs  at  Rome,  and  discharge  my  duty,  my  fideli- 
'  ty,  my  piety,  to  them  both  :  yet  in  truth,  I  do 
'  not  take  the  hopes  of  an  accommodation,  though 
'now  so  low,  to  be  quite  desperate,  since  Caesar 
'  is  in  that  mind  in  which  we  ought  to  wish  him : 
'  one  thing  would  please  me,  if  you  think  it  pro- 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  2rr 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus   Crus. 

"  per,  that  you  would  write  to  him,  and  desire  a 
"  guard  from  him,  as  you  did  from  Pompey,  at  the 
*'  time  of  Miio's  trial,  with  my  approbation :  1  will 
"  undertake  for  him,  if  I  rightly  know  Caesar,  that 
"  he  will  sooner  pay  a  regard  to  your  dignity,  than 
''  to  his  own  interest.  How  prudently  I  write 
"  these  tilings,  I  know  not ;  but  this  1  certainly 
"  know ;  that  whatever  I  write,  I  write  out  of  a  sin- 
"  gular  love  and  affection  to  you :  for  let  me  die, 
"  (so  as  Caesar  may  but  live)  if  I  have  not  so  great 
''  an  esteem  for  you,  that  few  are  equally  dear  to 
'*  me.  When  you  have  taken  any  resolution  in 
"this  affair,  I  wish  that  you  would  let  me  know  it, 
"  for  1  am  exceedingly  solicitous  that  you  sliould 
"  discharge  your  duty  to  them  both,  which  in  truth 
''  I  am  confident  you  will  discharge.  Take  care 
"  of  your  health."* 

The  offer  of  a  guard  was  artfully  insinuated; 
for  while  it  carried  an  appearance  of  honour  and 
respect  to  Cicero's  person,  it  must  necessarily 
have  made  him  Caesar's  prisoner,  and  deprived  him 
of  the  liberty  of  retiring,  when  he  found  it  proper, 
out  of  Italy  :  but  he  was  too  wise  to  be  cauo;lit 
by  it,  or  to  be  moved  in  any  manner  by  the  let- 
ters themselves,  to  entertain  the  least  thought  of 
going  to  Rome,  since,  to  assist  in  the  Senate,  when 
Pompey  and  the  consuls  were  driven  out  of  it,  was 
in  reality  to  take  part  against  them.  What  gave 
him  a  more  immediate  uneasiness  was  the  daily 
expectation  of  an  interview  with  Caesar  himself, 
who  was  now  returning  from  Brundisium  by  the 
road  of  Formiae,  where  he  then  resided  :  for 
though  he  would  gladly  have  avoided  him  if  he 


■    Ad  Att.  9.  8. 


278  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vu. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Mareellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 

could  have  contrived  to  do  it  decently,  yet  to 
leave  the  place  just  when  Caesar  was  cominoj  to 
it,  could  not  fail  of  bein^  interpreted  as  a  par- 
ticular affront :  he  resolved,  therefore,  to  wait  for 
him,  and  to  act  on  the  occasion  with  a  firmness 
and  gravity  which  became  his  rank  and  character. 

They  met,  as  he  expected,  and  he  sent  Atticus 
the  following  account  of  what  passed  between 
them  :  "  My  discourse  with  him,"  says  he,  ''  was 
"  such,  as  would  rather  make  him  think  well  of 
"  me,  than  thank  me.  I  stood  firm  in  refusing  to 
"  go  to  Rome  ;  but  was  deceived  in  expecting  to 
*'  find  him  easy ;  for  T  never  saw  any  one  less  so ; 
"  he  w^as  condemned,  he  said,  by  my  judgment ; 
"  and  if  I  did  not  come,  others  would  be  the  more 
*'  back  w  ard  :  I  told  him  that  their  case  was  very 
^'  different  from  mine.  After  many  things  said  on 
"  both  sides,  he  bade  me  come  however  and  try  to 
"  make  peace  :"  '  Shall  I  do  it,'  says  I,  '  in  my 
"  own  way  V  '  Do  you  imagine,'  replied  he, 
" '  that  I  will  prescribe  to  you  V  '  I  will  move  the 
*'  senate,  then,'  says  I,  '  for  a  decree  against  your 
"  going  ta^pain,  or  transporting  your  troops  into 
"  Greece,  and  say  a  great  deal  besides  in  bewailing 
"  the  case  of  Pompey  :'  '  I  will  not  allows'  re- 
*'  plied  he,  '  such  things  to  be  said  :'  'So  I 
"  thought,'  says  I,  '  and  for  that  reason  will  not 
"  come  ;  because  I  must  either  say  them,  and  many 
"  more,  which  I  cannot  help  saying,  if  I  am  there, 
"or  not  come  at  all.'  The  result  was;  that,  to 
"  shift  off  the  discourse,  he  wished  me  to  consider 
"  of  it;  which  I  could  not  refuse  to  do,  and  so  we 
"  parted.  I  am  persuaded,  that  he  is  not  pleased 
^'  with  me  ;  but  1  am  pleased  with  myself;  which 


SECT.   VII.  CICERO.  279 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus  Cr:i$. 

"  I  have  not  been  before  of  a  long  time.  As  for 
"the  rest;  good  gods,  what  a  crew  he  has  with 
"  him !  what  a  hellish  band,  as  you  call  them  ! — 
"  what  a  deplorable  affair !  what  desperate  troops ! 
'*  what  a  lamentable  thing,  to  see  Servius's  son, 
''  and  Titinius's,  with  many  more  of  their  rank  in 
"  that  camp,  which  besieged  Pompey  !  he  has  six 
"  legions ;  wakes  at  all  hours ;  fears  nothing ;  I  see 
"  no  end  of  this  calamity.  His  declaration  at  the 
"  last,  which  I  had  almost  forgot,  was  odious ;  that 
"  if  he  was  not  permitted  to  use  my  advice,  he 
"  would  use  such  as  he  could  get  from  others,  and 
"  pursue  all  measures  which  were  for  his  service."^ 
From  this  conference,  Cicero  went  directly  to  Ar- 
pinum,  and  tliere  invested  his  son,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  with  the  manly  gown ;  he  resolved  to  carry 
him  along  with  him  to  Pompey's  camp,  and  thought 
it  proper  to  give  him  an  air  of  manhood  before  he 
enlisted  him  into  the  war ;  and,  since  he  could  not 
perform  that  ceremony  at  Rome,  chose  to  oblige 
his  countrymen,  by  celebrating  this  festival  in  his 
native  city.f 

While  Caesar  was  on  the  road  towards  Rome, 
young  Quintus  Cicero,  the  nephew,  a  fiery  giddy 
youth,  privately  wrote  to  him  to  offer  his  service, 
with  a  promise  of  some  information  concerning  his 
uncle ;  upon  which,  being  sent  for,  and  admitted  to 
an  audience,  he  assured  Caesar,  that  his  uncle  was 
utterly  disaffected  to  all  his  measures,  and  determin- 
ed to  leave  Italy  and  go  to  Pompey.    The  boy  was 

*  Ad  Att.  9.  18. 

t  Ego  meo  Ciceroni,  quoniam  Roma  caremus,  Arpini  potissimum 
togara  piirain  dedi,  idque  municipibus  iiostris  luitgratnm — lb.  19. 


2S0 


THE    LIFE    OF  sect,    vii 


irurbr704.    Cic.  58.    COSS.-C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus^ 

tempted  to  this  rashness  by  the  hopes  of  a  considera- 
ble present,  and  gave  much  uneasiness  by  it  both 
to  the  father  and  the  uncle,  who  had  reason  to  fear 
some  ill  consequence  from  it:*  But  Caesar,  desn- 
ino-  still  to  divert  Cicero  from  declaring;  against  him, 
anil  to  quiet  the  apprehensions  which  he  might  en- 
tertain for  what  was  past,  took  occasion  to  signity 
to  him,  in  a  kind  letter  from  Rome,  "that  he  re- 
"tained  no  resentment  of  his  refusal  to  come  to  tne 
"  city,  though  Tullus  and  Servius  complained  that 
«  he  had  noit  shewn  the  same  indulgence  to  them,— 
«  ridiculous  men,"  says  Cicero,  "  who,  after  send- 
« ing  their  sons  to  besiege  Pompey  at  Brundisium, 
"pretend  to  be  scrupulous  about  going  to  the 
«  senate."t 

Cicero's  behaviour,  however,  and  residence  in 
those  villas  of  his,  which  were  nearest  to  the  sea, 
gave  rise  to  a  general  report,  that  he  was  waiting 
only  for  a  wind  to  carry  him  over  to  Pompey  ;  upon 
which  Caesar  sent  him  another  pressing  letter,  to 
try,  if  possible,  to  dissuade  him  from  that  step. 

♦'  Caesar,  Emi)eiour,  to  Cige-ro,  Emperour. 

''Though  I  never  imagined  that  you  would  do 
«  any  thing  rashly  or  imprudently,  yet,  moved  by 

*  Litteras  ejus  ad  Caesarcin  missas  ita  graviter  tulimiis,  ut  te  qui- 
dem  celar.mns.  taotiun  scito  post  Hirtium  conventuni,  arcesi^num 
ab  Caesare;  cum  eo  de  mep  animo  ab  suis  consili.s  alien.ssiiiio,  et 
consilio  relinqijpudi  Ilaliam.  lb.    10.4,  ^^  f  tc. 

Quintum  punrum  accepi  vehementer  Avaritiara  video  fuisse,  et 
spem  luagni  conoiarii.     Magnum  hoc  malum  est.     lb.  10.  /• 

I  Caesar  mihi  i-noscit  per  litleras,  quod  non  Romam  venerim.  se  se- 
que  in  opiiraam  partem  id  accipere  dicit.    Facile  pat.or,  quod  scnbit. 


SECT.  VII.  CJCERO.  ,  281 


A.  Uib.  704.    Cic.  88.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.  Com.  Lentulus   Cms. 


*'  common  report,  I  thought  proper  to  write  to  you, 
"  and  beg  of  you,  by  our  mutual  affection,  that  you 
**  would  not  run  to  a  declining  cause,  whither  you 
"  did  not  think  fit  to  go  while  it  stood  firm.  For 
"  you  will  do  the  greatest  injury  to  our  friendship, 
"  arid  consult  but  ill  for  yourself,  if  you  do  not 
'*  follow  where  fortune  calls :  for  all  things  seem  to 
''  have  succeeded  most  prosperously  for  us,  most 
*'  unfortunately  for  them :  nor  will  you  be  thought 
*'  to  have  followed  the  cause,  (since  that  was  the 
"  same,  when  you  chose  to  withdraw  yourself  from 
"  their  counsels)  but  to  have  condemned  some  act 
"  of  mine ;  than  which  you  can  do  nothing  that 
**  could  affect  me  more  sensibly,  and  what  I  beg, 
**  by  the  rights  of  our  friendship,  that  you  would 
''  not  do.  Lastly,  what  is  more  agreeable  to  the 
''  character  of  an  honest,  quiet  man,  and  good  citi- 
*'  zen,  than  to  retire  from  civil  broils  ?  from  which 
"  some,  who  would  gladly  have  done  it,  have  been 
"  deterred  by  an  apprehension  of  danger  :  but  you, 
"  after  a  full  testimony  of  my  life,  and  trial  of  my 
"  friendship,  will  find  nothing  more  safe  or  more 
"  reputable,  than  to  keep  yourself  clear  from  all 
"this  contention.  The  16th  of  April,  on  the 
*'  road."* 

Antony  also,  whom  Caesar  left  to  guard  Italy  in 
his  absence,  wrote  to  him  to  the  same  purpose,  and 
on  the  same  day. 


secum  Tiillum  et  Servium  questos  esse,  quianou  idem  sibi,  quod  inihi 
remisiset.  Homines  ridiculos,  qui  cum  filios  misissent  ad  Cn.  Pompei- 
um  clrcurasidendum,  ipsi  in  senatum  venire  dubitareut.     lb.  10.  3. 

*  Ad  Att.  y.  8. 

VOL.  ir.  36 


28-2  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  tii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus.    , 


Antonius,    Tribune     of    the     People,     and     Propraetor,    to 
Cicero,  Emperour. 

"  If  I  had  not  a  great  esteem  for  you,  and  much 
"  greater  indeed  than  you  imagine,  1  should  not  be 
"  concerned  at  the  report  which  is  spread  of  you, 
"  especially  when  I  take  it  to  be  false.  But, 
"  out  of  the  excess  of  my  affection,  I  cannot  dis- 
"semble,  that  even  a  report,  1  hough  false,  makes 
"  some  impression  on  me.  I  cannot  believe  that  you 
"  are  preparing  to  cross  the  sea,  when  you  have 
"  such  a  value  for  Dolabella,  and  your  daughter 
"  Tullia,  that  excellent  woman,  and  are  so  much 
"  valued  by  us  all,  to  whom  in  truth  your  dignity 
"  and  honour  are  almost  dearer  than  to  yourself; 
"  yet  I  did  not  think  it  the  part  of  a  friend  not  to 
"  be  moved  by  the  discourse  even  of  ill-designing 
''  men,  and  wrote  this  with  the  greater  inclination, 
"  as'l  take  my  part  to  be  the  more  difficult  on  the 
"  account  of  our  late  coldness,  occasioned  rather 
"  by  my  jealousy,  than  any  injury  from  you.  For 
"  I  desire  you  to  assure  yourself,  that  nobody  is 
"  dearer  t«wme  than  you,  excepting  my  Caesar,  and 
"that  I  know  also  that  Caesar  reckons  M.  Cicero 
"  in  the  first  class  of  his  friends.  Wherefore,  I  beg 
"of you,  my  Cicero,  that  you  will  keep  yourself 
"  free  and  undetermined,  and  despise  the  fidelity  of 
"  that  man  who  first  did  you  an  injury,  that  he 
"  might  afterwards  do  you  a  kindness ;  nor  fly  from 
"  him,  who,  though  he  should  not  love  you,  which 
"  is  impossible,  yet  will  always  desire  to  see  you  in 
"  safety  and  splendour.  I  have  sent  Calpurnius  to 
"  you  with  this,  the  most  intimate  of  my  friends. 


^ECT.  VII.  CICERO.  283 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus,    C.  Corn.  Lentulus  Cms. 

••'  that  you  mii^ht  perceive  the  o;reat  concern  which 
"  I  have  for  your  life  and  dignity."^ 

Caelius  also  wrote  to  him  on  the  same  subject ; 
butfindinor,  by  some  hints  in  Cicero's  answer,  that 
he  was  actually  preparing  to  run  away  to  Pompey, 
he  sent  him  a  second  letter,  in  a  most  pathetick,  or, 
as  Cicero  calls  it,  lamentable  strain,t  in  hopes  to 
work  upon  him  by  alarming  all  his  fears. 


Caelius   to  Cicero. 

**  Being  in  a  consternation  at  your  lettter,  by 
*'  which  you  shew  that  you  are  meditating  nothing 
"  but  what  is  dismal,  yet  neither  tell  me  directly 
"  what  it  is,  nor  wholly  hide  it  from  me,  I  presently 
"  write  this  to  you.  By  all  your  fortunes,  Cicero, 
"  by  your  children,  I  beg  and  beseech  you,  not  to 
"  take  any  step  injurious  to  your  safety  :  for  I  call 
"  the  gods  and  men,  and  our  friendship,  to  witness, 
"  that  what  I  have  told,  and  forewarned  you  of, 
"was  not  any  vain  conceit  of  my  own,  but  after  I 
"  had  talked  with  Caesar,  and  understood  from  him, 
*'  how  he  resolved  to  act  after  his  victory,  I  inform- 
"  ed  you  of  what  I  had  learnt.  If  you  imagine 
"  that  his  conduct  will  always  be  the  same,  in  dis- 
"  missing  his  enemies,  and  offering  conditions,  you 
"are  mistaken:  he  thinks  and  even  talks  of  no- 
"  thing  but  what  is  fierce  and  severe,  and  is  gone 
"  away  much  out  of  humour  with  the  senate,  and 
"thoroughly  provoked  by  the  opposition  which  he 

*  Ad  Att.  X.  8. 
T  M.  Caelii  epistolam  scriptam  miserabiliter.     lb.  x.  9. 


284  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.   Corn.  Lentulus    Cnis. 

"  has  met  with,  nor  will  there  be  any  room  for 
''mercy.  Wherefore,  if  you  yourself,  your  only 
"son,  your  house,  your  remaining  hopes,  be  dear 
"  to  you  :  if  I,  if  the  worthy  man,  your  son-in-law, 
"  have  any  weight  with  you,  you  should  not  de- 
*'  sire  to  overturn  our  fortunes,  and  force  us  to 
'*  hate  or  to  relinquish  that  cause  in  which  our 
"  safety  consists,  or  to  entertain  an  impious  wish 
"  against  yours.  Lastly,  reflect  on  this,  that  you 
"  have  already  given  all  the  offence  which  you  c^an 
''  give,  by  staying  so  long  behind  ;  and  now  to  de- 
"  dare  against  a  conqueror,  whom  you  would  not 
"  offend,  while  his  cause  was  doubtful,  and  to  fly 
"  after  those  who  run  away,  with  whom  you  would 
"  not  join,  while  they  were  in  condition  to  resist, 
**is  the  utmost  folly.  Take  care,  that,  while 
"  you  are  ashamed  not  to  approve  yourself  one  of 
"  the  best  citizens,  you  be  not  too  hasty  in  deter- 
'*  mining  what  is  the  best.  But  if  I  cannot  wholly 
"  prevail  with  you,  yet  wait  at  least  till  you  know 
"  how  we  succeed  in  Spain,  which  1  now  tell  you 
"  will  be  ours  as  soon  as  Caesar  comes  thither. 
"  What  hopes  they  may  haye  when  Spain  is  lost, 
''  I  know  '^ot ;  and  what  your  view  can  be,  in  ac- 
"  ceding  to  a  desperate  cause,  by  my  faith  I  cannot 
''  find  out.  ^  s  to  the  thing,  which  you  discover 
"  to  me  by  your  silence  about  it,  Caesar  has  been 
"  informed  of  it ;  and,  after  the  first  salutation,  told 
^'  me  presently,  what  he  had  heard  of  you  :  I  de- 
"  nied  that  I  knew  any  thing  of  the  matter,  but 
"  begged  of  him  to  write  to  you  in  a  manner  the 
*'  most  effectual  to  make  you  stay.  He  carries  me 
"  with  him  into  Spain,  if  he  did  not,  I  would  run 
**  aw  ay  to  you  wherever  you  are,  before  I  came 
'*  to  Rome,  to  dispute  this  point  with  you  in  per- 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  285 


A.  Vtb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Leniulus  Crus. 

"  son,  and  hold  you  fast  even  by  force.  Consider, 
"  Cicero,  again  and  as^ain,  that  you  may  not  ut- 
"  terly  ruin  both  you  and  yours ;  that  you  do 
"  not  knowingly  and  willingly,  throw  yourself  into 
"  difficulties,  whence  you  see  no  way  to  extricate 
"yourself.  But  if  either  the  reproaches  of  the 
''better  sort  touch  you,  or  you  cannot  bear  the 
"  insolence  and  haughtiness  of  a  certain  set  of  men, 
"  I  would  advise  you  to  choose  some  place  re- 
"mote  from  the  war,  till  these  contests  be  over, 
"  which  will  soon  be  decided  :  if  you  do  this,  I 
*' shall  think  that  you  have  done  wisely,  and  you 
"  will  not  offend  Caesar."^^ 

Caelius's  advice,  as  well  as  his  practice,  was 
grounded  upon  a  maxim,  which  he  had  before 
advanced  in  a  letter  to  Cicero,  ''that  in  a  pub- 
"  lick  dissension,  as  long  as  it  was  carried  on  by 
''  civil  methods,  one  ought  to  take  the  honester 
"side;  but  when  it  came  to  arras,  the  stronger; 
"  and  to  judge  that  the  best  which  was  the  safest."t 
Cicero  was  not  of  his  opinion,  but  governed  him- 
self in  this,  as  he  generally  did,  in  all  other  cases, 
by  a  contrary  rule;  "that  where  our  duty  and 
"  our  safety  interfere,  we  should  adhere  always 
"  to  what  is  right,  whatever  danger  w^e  incur 
"  by  it." 

Curio  paid  Cicero  a  friendly  visit  of  two  days 
about  this  time  on  his  way  towards  Sicily,  the  com- 

*  Ep.  Fara.  8.  16. 

t  Ilhid  te  non  arbitror  fiigere  ;  quin  homines,  in  dissensioncs  do- 
mesticas,  debeant,  qiiaradiii  civiliter  sine  aiinis  cernemr,  lioneslio- 
rem  sequi  partem  :  ubi  ad  belhim  et  castra  venlura  sit,  firmiorem; 
et  id  melius  statuere,  quod  tutius  sit.     Ep.  Fam.  8.   14. 


286  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.  L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 


mand  of  which  Caesar  had  committed  to  him. 
Their  conversation  turned  on  the  unhappy  con- 
dition of  the  times,  and  the  impending  miseries  of 
the  war,  in  which  Curio  was  open,  and  without 
any  reserve,  in  talking  of  Caesar's  views :  "  He 
"  exhorted  Cicero  to  choose  some  neutral  place 
"  for  his  retreat ;  assured  him,  that  Caesar  would 
'*  be  pleased  with  it ;  offered  him  all  kind  of  ac- 
"  commodation  and  safe  passage  through  Sicily ; 
"  made  not  the  least  doubt,  but  that  Caesar  would 
"  soon  be  master  of  Spain,  and  then  follow  Pom- 
"  pey  with  his  whole  force  ;  and  that  Pompey's 
"  death  would  be  the  end  of  the  war  :  but  confess- 
"ed  withal,  that  he  saw  no  prospect  or  glim- 
"  mering  of  hope  for  the  republick :  said,  that 
*«  Caesar  was  so  provoked  by  the  tribune  Metellus 
"  at  Rome,  that  he  had  a  mind  to  have  killed  him, 
"as  many  of  his  friends  advised;  that  if  he  had 
"done  it,*  a  great  slaughter  would  have  ensued; 
''  th^t  his  clemency  flowed,  not  from  his  natural 
"  disposition,  but  because  he  thought  it  popular ; 
"  and  if  he  once  lost  the  affections  of  the  people, 
"  he  would  be  cruel :  that  he  was  disturbed  to  see 
"  the  pedple  so  disgusted  by  his  seizing  the  pub- 
"  lick  treasure ;  and  though  he  had  resolved  to 
"  speak  to  them  before  he  left  Rome,  yet  he  durst 
"  not  venture  upon  it  for  fear  of  some  affront ; 
"  and  went  away  at  last  much  discomposed."^ 

The  leaving  the  publick  treasure  at  Rome  a 
prey  to  Caesar,  is  censured  more  than  once  by 
Cicero,  as  one  of  tlie  blunders  of  his  friends  :t 
but  it  is  a  common  case  in  civil  dissensions,  for 

*  Ad  Att.  X.  4.  t  lb.  7.  12.  15. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  287 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellm.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 


the  honester  side,  through  the  fear  of  discredit- 
ing their  cause  by  any  irregular  act,  to  ruin  it  by 
an  unseasonable  moderation.  The  publick  money 
was  kept  in  the  temple  of  Saturn ;  and  the  con- 
suls contented  themselves  with  caiTying  away  the 
keys,  fancying,  that  the  sanctity  of  the  place 
would  secure  it  from  violence ;  especially  when 
the  greatest  part  of  it  was  a  fund  of  a  sacred  kind, 
set  apart  by  the  laws  for  occasions  only  of  the 
last  exigency,  or  the  terrour  of  a  Gallick  inva- 
sion.* Pompey  was  sensible  of  the  mistake,  when 
it  was  too  late,  and  sent  instructions  to  the  con- 
suls to  go  back  and  fetch  away  this  sacred  trea- 
sure :  but  Caesar  was  then  so  far  advanced,  that 
they  durst  not  venture  upon  it  ;  and  Lentulus 
coldly  sent  him  word,  Ihat  he  himself  should  first 
march  against  Caesar  into  Picenum,  that  they 
might  be  able  to  do  it  with  safety .f  Caesar  had 
none  of  these  scruples;  but,  as  soon  as  became 
to  Rome,  ordered  the  doors  of  the  temple  to  be 
broken  open,  and  the  money  to  be  seized  for  his 
own  use ;  and  had  like  to  have  killed  the  tribune 
Metellus,  who,  trusting  to  the  authority  of  his 
office,  was  silly  enough  to  attempt  to  hinder  him. 
He  found  there  an  immense  treasure,  both  in  coin 
and  wedges  of  solid  gold,  reserved  from  the  spoils 
of  conquered  nations  from  the  time  even  of  the 
Punick  war :  "  for  the  republick,"  as  Pliny  says, 
•'  had  never  been  richer  than  it  was  at  this  day."J 

*  Dio,  p.  161. 

I  C,  Cassius — attulit  mandata  ad  consules,  ut  Romam  venirent. 
pecuniam  de  sanctiore  aerario  auferrent.  Cousul  reseripsit,  ut  priiis 
ipse  in  Picenum.     Ad  Att.  7.  21. 

t  Nee  fiiit  aliis  temporibns  Respub.  lociipletior.     PJin.  Hist.  33.  .3 


288  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius    Marcellus.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms, 

Cicero  was  now  impatient  to  be  gone,  and  the 
more  so,  on  account  of  the  inconvenient  pomp  of 
his  laurel,  and  lictors,  and  stile  of  emperour; 
which,  in  a  time  of  that  jealousy  and  distraction, 
exposed  him  too  much  to  the  eyes  of  the  publick, 
as  well  as  to  the  taunts  and  raillery  of  his  ene- 
mies.* He  resolved  lo  cross  the  sea  to  Pompey  : 
yet,  knowino;  all  his  motions  to  be  narrowly  watch- 
ed, took  pains  to  conceal  his  intention,  especially 
from  Antony,  who  resided,  at  this  time  in  his 
neii>hbourhood,  and  kept  a  strict  eye  upon  him. 
He  sent  him  word  therefore  by  letter,  that  he  had 
"no  desio;n  a^^ainst  Caesar;  that  he  remembered 
"  his  friendship,  and  his  son-in-law  Dolabella  ; 
"  that  if  he  had  other  thoughts,  he  could  easily 
«  have  been  with  Pompey  ;  that  his  chief  reason 
"  for  retiring  was  to  avoid  the  uneasiness  of  ap- 
"  pearing  in  publick  with  the  formality  of  his 
"lictors."t  But  Antony  wrote  him  a  surly  an- 
swer ;  which  Cicero  calls  a  laconick  mandate,  and 
sent  a  copy  of  it  to  Atticus,  "•  U  let  him  see,"  he 
says,  "  how  tyrannically  it  was  drawn." 

*'  How^'^sincere  is  your  Avay  of  acting  ?  for  he, 
"who  has  a  mind  to  stand  neuter,  stays  at  home  ; 
"  he,  wlio  goes  abroad,  seems  to  pass  a  judgment 
"  on  the  one  side  or  the  other.  But  it  does  not 
''belono;  to   me  to  determine,  whether  a  man  may 


*  Accedit  etiara  molcsta  haec  pompa  lictorurn  meorum,  nomen- 
qiie  imperii  quo  appylior — sed  inciirnt  haec  nostra  laurus  non  solum 
in  oculos,  sed  jam  etiam  in  roculas  .Dalevolorum.     Ep.  Fam.  2.   16. 

t  Cum  ego  saepi«sirae  srripsissera,  nihil  me  contra  Caesaris  ratio- 
nes  cooitare ;  mi^minisse  me  generi  mei,  merainisse  amicitiae,  potu- 
issesiaiiter  sentiifm.  esse  Vnn>  Pompeio,  me  antem,  quia  cum  iic- 
toribus  invitus  cursarem,  abesse  velle.     Ad  Att.  x.  10. 


SECT.   vii.  CICERO.  289 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.  Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus   Crus. 

"  go  abroad  or  not.  Caesar  has  imposed  this  task 
"  upon  me,  not  to  suffer  any  man  to  iro  out  of  Italy. 
"  W  here  fore,  it  sionities  nothing  for  me  to  approve 
"  your  resolution,  if  1  have  no  power  to  indulge 
"  you  in  it.  I  would  have  you  write  to  Caesar, 
'*  and  ask  that  favour  of  him  :  I  do  not  doubt  but 
"  you  will  obtain  it,  especially  since  you  promise 
''to  retain  a  regard  for  our  friend ship."^^ 

After  this  letter,  Antony  never  came  to  see 
him,  but  sent  an  excuse,  that  he  was  ashamed  to 
do  it,  because  he  took  him  to  be  angry  with  him, 
giving  him  to  understand  at  the  same  time  by  Tre- 
batius,  that  he  had  special  orders  to  observe  his 
motions.f 

These  letters  give  the  most  sensible  proof  of 
the  high  esteem  and  credit  in  which  Cicero  flour- 
ished at  this  time  in  Rome  :  when,  in  a  contest 
for  empire,  which  force  alone  was  to  decide,  we 
see  the  chiefs  on  both  sides  so  solicitous  to  gain  a 
man  to  their  party,  who  had  no  pecidiar  skill  in 
arms  or  talents  for  war  :  but  his  name  and  authori- 
ty was  the  acquisition  which  they  sought ;  since, 
whatever  was  the  fate  of  their  arms,  the  world, 
they  knew,  would  judge  better  of  the  cause  which 
Cicero  espoused.  The  same  letters  will  confute 
likewise  in  a  great  measure  the  common  opinion 
of  his  want  of  resolution  in  all  cases  of  difficulty, 
since  no  man  could  shew  a  greater  than  he  did  on 


*  Ad  Att.  X.  10. 

f  IVomiuatim  de  me  sibi  impcratam  dicit  Antonius,  nrc  mo  lamen 
ipse  adhuc  viderat,  scd  hoc  Trebatio  narravit,     lb.  \.   \2 

AntoDius — ad  me  misit,  se  piidorc  detrrritura,  ad  mc  non  veoisse, 
ijuod  me  sibi  siiccensere  putaret — lb.  x.  15. 

VOL.  II.  3*7 


290  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cico  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus.^ 


the  present  occasion,  when,  against  the  importuni- 
ties of  his  friends,  and  all  the  invitations  of  a  suc- 
cessful power,  he  chose  to  follow  that  cause  which 
he  thought  the  best,  though  he  knew  it  to  be  the 
weakest. 

During  Caesar's  absence  in  Spain,  Antony,  who 
had  nobody  to  control  him  at  home,  gave  a  free 
course  to  his  natural  disposition,  and  indulged  him- 
self without  reserve  in  all  the  excess  of  lew^dness 
and  luxury.  Cicero,  describing  his  usual  equi- 
page in  travelling  about  Italy,  says,  "  he  carries 
"  with  him  in  an  open  chaise  the  famed  actress  Cy- 
"  theris ;  his  wife  follows  in  a  second,  with  seven 
"  other  close  litters,  full  of  his  whores  and  boys, 
"  See  by  what  base  hands  we  fall ;  and  doubt,  if 
"  you  can,  whether  Caesar,  let  him  come  van- 
"  quished  or  victorious,  will  not  make  cruel  work 
"  amongst  us  at  his  return.  For  my  part,  if  1  can- 
"  not  get  a  ship,  I  will  take  a  boat  to  transport 
"  myself  out  of  their  reach ;  but  I  shall  tell  you 
"  more  after  I  have  had  a  conference  with  Anto- 
''ny."*  Among  Antony's  other  extravagancies, 
he  had  tli^e  insolence  to  appear  sometimes  in  pub- 
lick,  with  his  mistress  Cytheris  in  a  chariot  drawn 
by  lions.  Cicero,  alluding  to  this,  in  a  letter  to 
Atticus,  tells  him  jocosely,  that  he  need  not 
be    afraid    of    Antony's   lions  ;t   ^or    though   the 


*  Hie  tamen  Cytheridera  secura  lectica  aperta  portat,  altera  iixo- 
rem  :  septem  praeterea  coDjiu]^;tae  lecticae  sunt  amicarnin,  an  amico- 
ruin  ?  vide  quam  turpi  leto  pereamus  :  et  dubita,  si  potes,  quin  ille, 
sen  victus  sen  victor  redierit,  caedera  facturus  sit.  Ego  vero  vel 
lintriculo,  si  navis  non  erit,  eripiara  me  ex  istorum  parricidio.  Sed 
plura  scribam  cum  ilium  convenero — lb.  x.  10. 

fTu  Antonii  leones  pertimescas,  cave.  Nihil  est  illo  horaine  ju- 
lundius.     lb.  x.  13. 


SECT.  vii.  CICERO.  291 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.--C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentiilus  Crus- 

beasts  were  so  fierce,  the  master  himself  was  very 
tame. 

Pliny  speaks  of  this  fact,  "  as  a  designed  insult 
"on  the  Roman  people;  as  if,  by  the  emblem  of 
"  the  lions,  Antony  intended  to  give  them  to  un- 
"  derstand,  that  the  fiercest  spirits  of  them  would 
"  be  forced  to  submit  to  the  yoke  :"^  Plutarch 
also  mentions  it ;  but  both  of  them  place  it  after 
the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  though  it  is  evident,  from 
this  hint  of  it  oriven  by  Cicero,  that  it  happened 
long  before. 


•» 


Whilst  Cicero  continued  at  Formiae,  deliberating 
on  the  measures  of  his  conduct,  he  formed  several 
political  theses,  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  times,  for  the  amusement  of  his  solitary  hours  : 
^'  Whether  a  man  ought  to  stay  in  his  country, 
"  when  it  was  possessed  by  a  tyrant  ?  whether  one 
"  ought  not  by  all  means  to  attempt  the  dissolution 
"  of  the  tyranny,  though  the  city  on  that  account 
**  was  exposed  to  the  utmost  hazard?  whether  there 
"  was  not  cause  to  be  afraid  of  the  man  Avho  should 
**  dissolve  it,  lest  he  should  advance  himself  into  the 
"other's  place?  whether  we  should  not  help 
"  our  country  by  the  methods  of  peace,  rather  than 
"  war  ?  whether  it  be  the  part  of  a  citizen  to  sit  still 
"  in  a  neutral  place,  while  his  country  is  oppressed, 
"  or  to  run  all  hazards  for  the  sake  of  the  common 
••'liberty  ?  whether  one  ought  to  bring  a  war  upon 

*  Jugo  subdidit  eos,  primusqne  Romae  ad  oiirnim  jiinxit  Anfoniiis; 
et  qaidein  civili  bcllo  cum  dimicatum  esset  in  riiarsali'.  is  campis ;  non 
sineostento  qiiodam  temporum.  generosos  spiritusjiigum  subire  illopro- 
dlgio  siguilicante  :  nam  quod  ita  vectus  est  cum  miraa  Cytheride,  su- 
pra monstra  etiam  illaruna  calamitatum  I'uit. — Plin  Hist.  8.  16. 


292  THE   LIFE   OF  sbct.  vn 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  liCntulus  Cms. 


«  his  city,  and  besiege  it,  when  in  the  hands  of  a  ty- 
"rant?  whether  a  man,  not  approving  the  dissolu- 
« tion  of  a  tyranny  by  war,  ought  not  to  join  him- 
"self  however  to  the  best  citizens?  whether  one 
"  ought  to  act  with  his  benefactors  and  friends, 
"though  they  do  not  in  his  opinion  take  right  mea- 
"  sures  for  the  publick  interest  ?  whether  a  man, 
"  who  has  done  great  services  to  his  country,  and 
"  for  that  reason  has  been  envied  and  cruelly  treat- 
"  ed,  is  still  bound  to  expose  himself  to  fresh  dan- 
"  gers  for  it,  or  may  not  be  permitted  at  last  to  take 
"  care  of  himself  and  his  family,  and  give  up  all 
"political  matters  to  the  men  of  power? — by  exer- 
"  cising  myself,  says  he,  in  these  questions,  and  ex- 
"  amining  them  on  the  one  side  and  the  other,  I  re- 
"  lieve  my  mind  from  its  present  anxiety,  and  draw 
"  out  something  which  may  be  of  use  to  me."* 

From  the  time  of  his  leaving  the  city,  together 
with  Pompey  and  the  senate,  there  passed  not  a 
single  day  in  which  he  did  not  write  one  or  more 
letters  to*  Atticus,t  the  only  friend  whom  he  trusted 
with  the  s^ret  of  his  thoughts.  From  these  letters 
it  appears,  that  the  sum  of  Atticus's  advice  to  him 
agreed  entirely  with  his  own  sentiments,  that  if  Pom- 
pey remained  in  Italy,  he  ought  to  join  with  him  ; 
if  not,  should  stay  behind,  and  expect  what  fresh 

*  In  bis  ego  me  consultationibiis  exercens,  disserens  in  utramque 
partem,  turn  Graece  turn  Latine,  abduco  parumper  animuma  moles- 
tiis  etTcv  Tr^ivpyou  ti  dclibero.  ,  Ad  Alt.  9.  4. 

t  Hujus  autem  epistolac  non  solum  ea  causa  est,  lit  no  quis  a  me 
dies  inteimittetnr,  qiiindem  ad  te  litteras,  sed— lb.  8.  12. 

Alteram  tibi  eodem  die  banc  epistolam  dictavi  et  pridie  dederans 
mea  mami  Jonjriorcm— lb.  x.  3- 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  293 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crui. 

accidents  Dii«;ht  produce.^  This  was  what  Cicero 
had  hitherto  followed  ;  and  as  to  his  future  conduct, 
thoui^h  he  seems  sometimes  to  be  a  little  wavering 
and  irresolute,  yet  the  result  of  his  deliberations 
constantly  turned  in  favour  of  Pompey.  His  per- 
sonal adection  for  the  man,  preference  of  his  cause, 
the  reproaches  of  the  better  sort,  who  began  to 
censure  his  tardiness,  and  above  all,  his  gratitude 
for  favours  received,  which  had  ever  the  greatest 
weight  with  him,  made  him  resolve  at  all  adventures 
to  run  after  him ;  and  though  he  w^as  displeased 
with  his  management  of  the  w^ar,  and  without  any 
hopes  of  his  success  ;t  though  he  knew  him  before 
to  be  no  politician,  and  now  perceived  him,  he  says, 
to  be  no  general ;  yet,  with  all  his  faults,  he  could 
not  endure  the  thought  of  deserting  him,  nor  hard- 
ly forgive  himself  for  staying  so  long  behind  him ; 
*'  For  as  in  love,"  says  he,  "  any  thing  dirty  and  in- 
"  decent  in  a  mistress  will  stifle  it  for  the  present, 
"  so  the  deformity  of  Pompey's  conduct  put  me  out 
"  of  humour  with  him,  but  now  that  he  is  gone,  my 
"  love  revives,  and  I  cannot  bear  his  absence,  &;c."J 

What  held  him  still  a  while  longer,  was  the  tears 
of  his  family,  and  the  remonstrances  of  his  daughter 

*  Ego  quidera  tibi  non  sim  aiictor,  si  Pompeius  Italiam  relinquit, 
tequoque  profusjere.  sumrao  enim  periculo  facies,  nee  Heipub.  pro- 
deris ;  cui  quidem  posterius  poteris  prodesse,  si  manseris,etc — lb.  9.  10. 

f  Ingrati  animi  crimen  horreo — lb.  9.  2.  5.  7. 

Nee  mehercule  hoe  lacio  Reipub.  causa,  quam  funditus  deletam 
puto,  sed  iiequis  me  putet  ingratum  in  eum,  qui  me  leyavit  iis  incom- 
modis,  quibus  ipse  affecerat — lb.  9.  19. 

Fortunae  sunt  comraittenda  omnia.  Sine  spe  conamur  ulla.  Si 
melius  quid  acciderit  niirabinuir — lb.  x.  2. 

I  Sicut  iv  Toii  igulwAi',  alienant  iramundae,  insulsae,  iudecorae  :  sic  me 
illius  lugae,  negligentiaequedefbrmitasavertit  ab  amore — nunc  emer- 
git  amor,  nunc  dc«iderium  ferre  non  possum.     lb.  9;  10. 


294  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 

Tullia ;  who  entreated  him  to  wait  only  the  issue 
of  the  Spanish  war,  and  urged  it  as  the  advice  of 
Atticus.^  He  was  passionately  fond  of  this  daugh- 
ter ;  and  with  great  reason ;  for  she  was  a  woman 
of  singular  accomplisments,  with  the  utmost  affec- 
tion and  piety  to  him  :  speaking  of  her  to  Attic  us, 
"  how  admirable,"  says  he,  "  is  her  virtue  ?  how 
"does  she  bear  the  publick  calamity!  how,  her 
"  domestick  disgusts  ?  what  a  greatness  of  mind 
"  did  she  shew  at  my  parting  from  them  !  in  spite 
"  of  the  tenderness  of  her  love,  she  wishes  me  to 
"  do  nothing  but  what  is  right,  and  for  my  honour."t 
But  as  to  the  affair  of  Spain,  he  answered,  "  that 
*'  whatever  was  the  fate  of  it,  it  could  not  alter  the 
"case  with  regard  to  himself;  for  if  Caesar  should 
"  be  driven  out  of  it,  his  journey  to  Pompey  would 
"  be  less  welcome  and  reputable,  since  Curio  him- 
"  self  would  run  over  to  him  :  or  if  the  war  was 
"  drawn  into  length,  there  would  be  no  end  of  wait- 
"  ing :  or  lastly,  if  Pompey 's  army  should  be  beaten, 
"  instead  of  sitting  still,  as  they  advised,  he  thought 
"just  the  contrary,  and  should  choose  the  rather  to 
"  run  away  from  the  violence  of  such  a  victory. 
"  He  resolved,  therefore,"  he  says,  "  to  act  nothing 
"  craftily  :  but  whatever  became  of  Spain,  to  find 
"  out  Pompey  as   soon   as  he  could,  in  conformity 

*  Sedcum  ad  ine  mea  Tullia  scribat,  orans,  utquid  in  Hispania  ge- 
raturexpectera,  et  semper  adscribat  idem  videri  tibi — lb.  x.  8. 

Lacryraae  meorum  me  interdum  molliunt,  precantium,  iit  de  His- 
paniis  expectemus — lb.  x.  9. 

f  Cujus  quidom  virtus  mirifi?'a.  Quomodo  ilia  fert  publicamcladera  ? 
qunmodo  domesticas  tricas  ?  quantus  autem  auimus  in  discessu  nostro  ? 
su  a-ro^yn,  sit  summa  <ryv7»^/f ;  tamen  nos  recte  tacere  et  bene  audire  vult. 
Jb.  X.8. 


i 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  295 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus  Crus. 


"  to  Solon's  law,  who  made  it  capital  for  a  citizen 
"  not  to  take  part  in  a  civil  dissension."* 

Before  his  going  off,  Servius  Sulpiciiis  sent  him 
word  from  Rome,  that  he  had  a  great  desire  to 
have  a  conference  with  him,  to  consult  in  common 
what  measures  they  ought  to  take.  Cicero  con- 
sented to  it,  in  hopes  to  find  Servius  in  the  same 
mind  with  himself,  and  to  have  his  company  to 
Pompey's  camp  :  for,  in  answer  to  his  message,  he 
intimated  his  own  intention  of  leaving  Italy :  and 
if  Servius  was  not  in  the  same  resolution,  advised 
him  to  save  himself  the  trouble  of  the  journey, 
though,  if  he  had  any  thing  of  moment  to'commu- 
nicate,  he  would  wait  for  his  coming.f  But  at 
their  meeting  he  found  him  so  timorous  and  de- 
sponding, and  so  full  of  scruples  upon  every  thing 
which  was  proposed,  that,  instead  of  pressing  him 
to  the  same  conduct  with  himself,  he  found  it  ne- 
cessary to  conceal  his  own  design  from  him  :  "  Of 
"  all  the  men,"  says  he,  "whom  I  have  met  with, 
"he  is  alone  a  greater  coward  than  C.  Marcellus, 

*  Si  pelletur,  quara  gratus  aut  quam  honestus  turn  erit  ad  Pom- 
peiiira  iioster  adventus,  cum  ipsum  Curionem  ad  ipsum  transiturum 
piitem?  si  trahitur  bellum,  quid  expectera,  aut  quam  diu  ?  relinqui- 
tur,  ut  si  vincimur  in  Hispania,  quiescamus.  Id  ego  contra  puto  : 
istum  enim  victorem  relinquendum  magisputo,  qnam  victum ibid.— 

Astute  nihil  sum  acturus ;  fiat  in  Hispania  quidlibet.     ?b.  x.  G. 

Ego  vero  Solonis— legem  negligam,  qui  capite  sanxit,  si  qui  in  se- 
ditiono  npn  alterius  utrius  partis  fuisset — lb.  x.  1. 

t  Sin  autcm  tibi  homini  prudentissimo  videtur  utile  esse,  nos  col- 
loqui,  quanquara  longius  etiam  cogitabara  ab  urbe  discedere,  oujus 
jam  etiam  nomen  iuvitus  audio,  tamen  propius  accedam — Kp.  Fam 
4.  1. 

Resfat  ut  discedendum  putem ;  in  quo  reliqua  videtur  esse  deli- 
beratio,  quod  consilium  in  discessu,  quae  loca  sequamur— si  habes  jam 
stalntum,  quid  tibi  agendum  putes,  in  quo  uon  sit  conjrmctum  con- 
silium tuum  cum  meo,  supersedeas  hoc  labore  itincris — ib.  4.  2. 


296  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb,  704.  Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus, 


"  who  laments  his  having  been  consul ;  and  uro^es 
"  Antony  to  hinder  my  going,  that  he  himself  may 
*'  stay  with  a  better  grace."^ 

Cato,  whom  Pompey  had  sent  to  possess  himself 
of  Sicily,  thought  fit  to  quit  that  post,  and  yield 
up  the  island  to  Curio,  who  came  likewise  to  seize 
it  on  Caesar's  part,  with  a  superiour  force.  Cicero 
was  much  scandalized  at  Cato's  conduct,  being  per- 
suaded that  he  might  have  held  his  possession  with- 
out difficulty,  and  that  all  honest  men  would  have 
flocked  to  him,  especially  when  Pompey's  fleet 
was  so  near  to  support  him  :  for  if  that  had  but 
once  appeared  on  the  coast,  and  begun  to  act.  Cu- 
rio himself,  as  he  confessed,  would  have  run  away 
the  first.  "  I  wish,"  says  Cicero,  ''  that  Cotta  may 
"  hold  out  Sardinia,  as  it  is  said  he  will :  for  if  so, 
"  how  base  will  Cato's  act  appear. "t 

In  these  circumstances,  while  he  was  preparing 
all  things  for  his  voyage,  and  waiting  only  for  a  fair 
wind,  he  removed  from  his  Cuman  to  his  Pompeian 
villa  beyond  Naples,  which,  not  being  so  commo- 
dious forTln  embarkment,  would  help  to  lessen  the 

*  Servii  consilio  nihil  expeditur.  Omnes  captinnes  in  orani  sen- 
tentia  occurrunt.  Unum  C.  Marcello  cognovi  tiraidiorem.  quem  con- 
sulein  fuisse  poenitet — qui  etiam  Antoniiim  confiruiasse  dicitur,  ut 
me  irapediret,  quo  ipse,  credo,  honestius. — Ad  Alt.  x.  15. 

f  Curio  mecura  vixit — Siciliae  diffidens,  si  Pompeius  navigare  coe- 
pisset.     lb.  X.  7. 

Curio — Pompeii  classem  timebat  :  quae  si  esset,  se  de  Sieilia  abi- 
turura.     lb.  x.  4.  ^ 

Cato  qui  Siciliam  tenere  nullo  negotio  potuit,  et  si  tenuisset,  om- 
nes boni  ad  eura  se  contulissent,  Syracusis  profectus  est  a.  d.  8.  Kal. 
Mail — utinam,  quod  aiunt,  Cotta  Sardiniara  teneat.  Estenim  rumor. 
O,  si  id  fuerit,  turpem  Catonera  !     lb.  x.  16. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  297 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius    :Marcellus.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms. 

suspicion  of  his  intended  flight.*  Here  he  receiv- 
ed a  private  message  from  the  officers  of  three  co- 
horts, which  were  in  garrison  at  Pompeii,  to  beg 
leave  to  wait  upon  him  the  day  following,  in  order 
to  deliver  up  their  troops  and  the  town  into  his 
hands ;  but,  instead  of  listening  to  the  overture, 
he  slipt  away  the  next  morning  before  day,  to  avoid 
seeing  them;  since  such  a  force,  or  a  greater,  could 
be  of  no  service  there ;  and  he  was  apprehensive 
that  it  was  designed  only  as  a  trap  for  him.f 

Thus,  pursuing  at  last  the  result  of  all  his  de- 
liberations, and  preferring  the  consideration  of  duty 
to  that  of  his  safety,  he  embarked  to  follow  Pom- 
pey  ;  and  though,  from  the  nature  of  the  war,  he 
plainly  saw  and  declared,  *'  that  it  was  a  contention 
"  only  for  rule  ;  yei  he  thought  Pompey  the  mo- 
"  dester,  honester,  and  juster  king  of  the  two ;  and, 
"  if  he  did  not  conquer,  that  the  very  name  of  the 
"  Roman  people  would  be  extinguished ;  or,  if 
"  he  did,-  that  it  would  still  be  after  the  manner 
"  and  pattern  of  Sylla,  with  much  cruelty  and 
"  blood."j     With  these  melancholy  reflections  he 

*  Ego  ut  minuerim  suspicionem  profectiouis — profectus  sum  ia 
Pompeianum  a.  d.  iiii  fd.  Ut  ibi  esseru,  dum  quae  ad  naviganduua 
opus  essent,  paraientur.     lb.  v/f.^-j^i^ 

fCum  ad  villam  veuisseoi,  ventum  est  ad  me  centuriones  triura 
cohortium,  quae  Porapeiis  sunt,  me  velle  postridie  ;  haec  mecum 
Ninius  noster,  velle  eos  mihi  se,  et  oppidum  tradere.  At  ego  tibi 
postridie  a  villa  ante  lucem,  ut  me  omnino  illi  non  viderent  Quid 
enira  erat  in  tribus  cohortibus  ?  quid  si  plures,  quo  apparatu  ? — et 
simul  fieri  poterat,  ut  tentaremur.  Omnem  igitur  suspicionem  sustu- 
!i.     Ibid. 

I  Dominatio  quaesita  ab  utroque  est.     lb.  3.  11. 

Regnandi  contentio  est  ;  in  qua  pulsus  est  modestior  rex  et  pro- 
bior  et  integrior ;  et  is,  qui  nisi  vineit,  nomen  populi  Romani  delea- 
tur  necesse  est ;  siu  autem  vineit,  Syllano  more,  cxemploque  vincet- 
lb.  K.  7. 

TOL.  ir.  38 


298  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vi 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.   Corn.  Lentulus   Cms. 


set  sail  on  the  eleventh  of  June,^  "  rushing,"  as 
he  tells  us,  "  knowingly  and  willingly  into  volunta- 
"  ry  dest^uction,  and  doing  just  what  cattle  do, 
*'  when  driven  by  any  force,  running  after  those  of 
"  his  own  kind  :  for  as  the  ox,"  says  he,  "  follows 
"  the  herd,  so  I  follow  the  honest,  or  those  at  least 
"  who  are  called  so,  though  it  be  to  certain  ruin."t 
As  to  his  brother  Q^uintus,  he  was  so  far  from  de- 
siring his  company  in  this  flight,  that  he  pressed 
him  to  stay  in  Italy  on  account  of  his  personal  ob- 
ligations to  Caesar,  and  the  relation  that  he  had 
borne  to  him :  yet  Quintus  would  not  be  left  be- 
hind ;  but  declared,  "  that  he  would  follow  his 
"  brother,  v^hithersoever  he  should  lead,  and 
''think  that  party  right  which  he  should  choose 
'*  for  him."J 

*  A.  d.  III.  Id.  Jiin.  Ep.  Fam.  14.  7.  It  is  remaikahle,  that  among 
Uie  reasons  which  detained  Cicero  in  Italy  longer  than  he  intended, 
he  mentions  the  tejnpesiuous  wealher  of  the  equinox,  and  the  calms  that 
succdeded  it;  yet  this  was  about  the  end  of  May  [Ad  Att.  x.  17,  18.] 
which  shews  what  a  strange  confusion  there  was  at  this  time  in  the 
Roman  Kalendar  ;  and  what  necessity  for  that  reformation  of  it 
which  Caesar  soon  after  effected,  in  order  to  reduce  the  computation 
of  their  months  to  the  regular  course  of  the  seasons,  from  which 
they  had  so  ^ideiy  varied.  .Some  of  the  commentators,  for  want  of 
attending  to^his  cause,  are  strangely  puzzled  to  account  for  the 
difficulty;  and  one  of  them  ridiculously  imagines,  that,  by  the 
equinox,  Cicero  covertly  means  Antony,  who  used  to  make  his  days 
and  nights  equal,  by  sleeping,  as  much  as  he  waked. 

f  Ego  prudens  ac  sciens  ad  pestera  ante  oculos  positam  turn  profec- 
tus.     Fp.  Fam.  6.  6. 

Prudens  et  sciens  tanquam  ad  interitum  ruerem  voluntariura.  [Pro 
M.  Marcel.  5.]  quid  ergo  acturus  es  ?  idem,  quod  pecudes,  quae  dis- 
pulsae  sui  generis  sequuntur  greges.  I't  bo=  armenta,  sic  ego  bonos 
viros,  aut  eos,  quicunque  dic^ntur  boni,  sequar,  etiara  si  ruent.  Ad 
Att.  7.  7. 

I  Fratrera — socium  hujus  fortunae  esse  non  erat  aequum  :  cui  ma- 
gis  etiam  Caesar  irascetur.  ISed  impetrare  non  possum,  ut  maneat 
[ib.  9.  l.J  frater,  quioquid  mihi  placeret,  id  rectum  se  putare  aiebat. 
lb.  9.  6. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  299 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cie.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Crus. 

What  gave  Cicero  a  more  particular  abhor- 
rence of  the  war  into  which  he  was  entering,  was, 
1o  see  Pompey,  on  all  occasions,  affecting  to  imi- 
tate Sylla,  and  to  hear  him  often  say,  with  a  supe- 
riour  air,  "  could  Sylla  do  such  a  thing,  and  can- 
"  not  I  do  it  ?" — as  if  determined  to  make  Sylla's 
victory  the  pattern  of  his  own.  He  was  now  in 
much  the  same  circumstances  in  which  that  con- 
queror had  once  been  ;  sustaining  the  cause  of 
the  senate  by  his  arms,  and  treated  as  an  enemy  by 
those  who  possessed  Italy ;  and,  as  he  iiattered 
himself  with  the  same  good  fortune,  so  he  was 
meditating  the  same  kind  of  return,  and  threat- 
ening ruin  and  proscription  to  all  his  enemies. 
This  frequently  shocked  Cicero,  as  we  find  from 
many  of  his  letters,  to  consider  with  what  cruelty 
and  effusion  of  civil  blood,  the  success,  even  of  his 
friends,  would  certainly  be  attended.* 

We  have  no  account  of  the  manner  and  circum- 
stances of'  his  voyage,  or  by  what  course  he  steer- 
ed towards  Dyrrhachium  :  for,  after  his  leaving 
Italy,  all  his  correspondence  with  it  was  in  great 
measure  cut  off,  so  that  from  June,  in  which  he 
sailed,  we  find  an  intermission  of  about  nine  months 
in  the  series  of  his  letters,  and  not  more  than 
four  of  them  written  to  Atticus  during  the  continu- 
ance of  the  war.t  He  arrived  however  safely  in 
Pompey's  camp  with   his   son,    his  brother,    and 

*  Qiiam  crel)ro  illud.  Sj/Ua  potuit.,  ego  non  polero  7 
Ila  Sjfllaturit  animus  ejus,  et  proscripiuril  diu.     [Ad    Att.   9.    x.] 
Cnaeus  nostor  Sijllani  regni   sirailitudinem  concupivit,  iKfa;  <roi  y.iyu), 
lb.  7.]   ut  uon  nominatira  sed  gencr.atim  proscriptio  esset   intbnuata. 
Ib.xi.  6. 

f  Vid.  Ad  Att.  xi.  1,  2,  3,  4. 


300  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,   vir 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.    C.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms. 


nephew,  committins^  the  fortunes  of  the  whole, 
family  to  the  issue  of  that  cause  :  and,  that  he 
might  make  some  amends  for  comino;  so  late,  and 
gain  the  greater  authority  with  his  party,  he  fur- 
nished Pompey,  who  was  in  great  want  of  money, 
with  a  large  sum,  out  of  his  owii  stock,  for  the  pub- 
lick  service.^ 

But,  as  he  entered  into  the  war  with  reluctance, 
so  he  found  nothing  in  it  but  what  increased  his  dis- 
gust :  he  disliked  every  thing  which  they  had  done, 
or  designed  to  do ;  saw  nothing  good  amongst 
them  but  their  cause  ;  and  that  their  own  councils 
would  ruin  them  :  for,  all  the  chiefs  of  the  party, 
trusting  to  the  superiour  fame  and  authority  of 
Pompey,  and  dazzled  with  the  splendour  of  the 
troops,  which  the  princes  of  the  East  had  sent  to 
their  assistance,  assured  themselves  of  victory ; 
and,  without  reflecting  on  the  different  characters 
of,  the  two  armies,  would  hear  of  nothing  but  fight- 
ing. It  was  Cicero's  business,  therefore,  to  dis- 
courage this  wild  spirit,  and  to  represent  the  haz- 
ard of  the  war,  the  force  of  Caesar,  and  the  proba- 
bility of  Jiis  beating  them;  if  ever  they  ventured 
a  battle  with  him  :  but  all  his  remonstances  were 
slighted,  and  he  himself  reproached  as  timorous 
and  cowardly,  by  the  other  leaders;  though  noth- 
ing afterwards  happened  to  them  but  what  he  had 
often  foretold.f     This   soon  made  him  repent  of 


*  Etsi  egeo  rebus  omnibus,  quod  is  quoque  in  angustiis  est,  quicum 
suinus.  cui  n>agnam  dedimu^  pecnniaiTj  mutuam,  oj)inantes  nobis,  con- 
stitutis  rebus,  earn  rem  etiam  honori  tore,  [lb.  xi.  .3.]  si  quas  habui- 
mus  facultates,  eas  Fompeio  turn,  cum  id  videbamur  sapienter  face- 
re,  detulimus.     lb.  13. 

f  Quippe  mihi  nee  quae  accidunt,  nee  quae  aguntur,  ullo  modo  pro- 
bantur,  [lb,  xi.  4.]  nihil  boni  praeter  causam,  [Ep.  Fam.  7.  3.j  itaque 


SECT.  VII.  CTCERO.  301 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Maroellus     C.  Com.  Lentalus  Cms. 

embarkinor  in  a  cause  so  imprudently  conducted; 
and  it  added  to  his  discontent,  to  find  himself  even 
blamed  by  Cato  for  coming  to  them  at  all ;  and  de- 
serting that  neutral  post,  which  might  have  given 
him  the  better  opportunity  of  bringing  about  an 
accommodation.* 

Tn  this  disagreeable  situation  he  declined  all  em- 
ployment, and  finding  his  counsels  wholly  slighted, 
resumed  his  usual  way  of  raillery,  and,  what  he 
could  not  dissuade  by  his  authority,  endeavoured 
to  make  ridiculous  by  his  jests.  This  gave  oc- 
casion, afterwards,  to  Antony,  in  a  speech  to  the 
senate,  to  censure  the  levity  of  his  behaviour  in 
the  calamity  of  a  civil  war,  and  to  reflect,  not  only 
upon  his  fears,  but  the  unseasonableness  also  of  his 
jokes :  to  which  Cicero  answered  "  that  though 
"  their  camp  indeed  was  full  of  care  and  anxiety, 
"yet,  in  circumstances  the  most  turbulent,  there 
"  were  certain  moments  of  relaxation,  which  all 
"men,  who  had  any  humanity  in  them,  were  glad 
"  to  lay  hold  on  :  but  Avhile  Antony  reproached 
"  him  both  with  dejection  and  joking  at  the  same 
"time,  it  was  a  sure  proof  that  he  had  observ- 
"  ed  a  proper  temper  and  moderation  in  them 
"  both."t 


ego  qiiem  tiiin  fortes  illi  viri,  Domitii  et  Lentuli.  timulum  esse  di- 
cebant,  etc.  [lb.  fi.  21.]  quo  qnidem  in  hello,  nihil  adversi  accidit 
noil  praedicente  me.     lb.  6. 

'■'■  Ciijiis  -me  inei  laeta  poenitiiit,  non  tarn  propter  pericuhim  meiim 
qnam  propter  vitia  iniilla,  quae  ibi  oflendi,  quo  vcneram.  lb.  7.  3. 
Plutar.  in  Cic. 

J  Ipse  fugi  adbuc  omne  munus,  eo  magis,  qnod  ita  nihil  potcrat  agi, 
ut  mihi  et  meis  rebus  aptuin  esset.  [Alt.  xi.  4.]  Quod  autem  idem 
moestitiam  meani  reprehendit  idem  Jocum  ;  mag:io  argumento  est, 
nie  in  utroquc  fuisse  moderatum.     Phil.  2.  16. 


./^.. 


302  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.  L.  Corn.  Lentulus  Cms. 

Young  Brutus  was  also  in  Pompey's  camp, 
where  he  distincruished  himself  by  a  peculiar  zeal : 
which  Cicero  mentions  as  the  more  remarkable, 
because  he  had  always  professed  an  irreconcilea- 
ble  hatred  to  Pompey,  as  to  the  murderer  of  his 
father.^  But  he  followed  the  cause,  not  the  man ; 
sacrificing  all  his  resentments  to  the  service  of  his 
country,  and  lookino;  now  upon  Pompey  as  the 
general  of  the  republick,  and  the  defender  of  their 
common  liberty. 

During  the  course  of  this  w^ar,  Cicero  never 
speaks  of  Pompey's  conduct  but  as  a  perpetual 
succession  of  blunders.  His  first  step  of  leaving 
Italy  was  condemned  indeed  by  all,  but  particu- 
larly by  Atticus  ;  yet  to  us  at  this  distance,  it 
seems  not  only  to  have  been  prudent,  but  necessa- 
ry.f     What  shocked  people   so  much  at  it,  was 


Some  of  Cicero's  sayings  on  this  occasion  are  preserved  by  different 
writers.  When  Pompey  put  him  in  mind  of  his  coming  so  late  to 
them;  "  how  can  I  come  late,"  said  he,  "when  I  find  nothing  in 
♦'  readiness  among  you  ?"  and  upon  Pompey's  asking  him  sarcastical- 
ly, where  his  son-in-law  Dolabella  was  ;  "he  is  with  your  father-m- 
♦'law,"  repU^  he.  To  a  person  newly  arrived  IVom  Italy,  and  in- 
forming thpm  of  a  strong  report  at  Home,  that  Pompey  was  blocked 
up  by  Caesar;  "  and  you  sailed  hither,  therefore,"  said  he  "  that  you 
"might  see  it  with  your  own  eyes."  And  even  after  their  defeat, 
when  Nonnius  was  exhorting  them  to  courage,  because  there  were 
seven  eagles  still  left  in  Pompey's  camp  :  "  You  encourage  well," 
said  he,  "  if  we  were  to  fight  with  jack-daws."  By  the  frequency  of 
these  splenetick  jokes,  he  is  said  to  have  provoked  Pompey  so  far  as 
to  tell  him,  "  I  wish  that  you  would  go  over  to  the  other  side,  that 
you  may  begin  to  fear  us."  Vid.  Macrob.  Saturn.  2.  3.  Plutar.  in 
Cicero. 

*  Brutus  amicus  in  causa  versatur  acriter.     Ad  Att.  xi.  4. 
Vid.  Plutar.  in  Brut,  et  Pomp. 

I  Quorum  dux  quara  cta-r^^Tnynrosy  tu  quoque  animadvertis,  cui  ne 
Picena  quidem  nota  sunt:  quara  autem  sine  consilio,  res  testis.  Ad 
Att.  7.  13. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.  303 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus,    C.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms. 

the  discovery  that  it  made  of  his  weakness  and 
want  of  preparation ;  and,  after  the  security  which 
he  had  all  lon^r  affected,  and  the  defiance  so  oft 
declared  ai^ainst  his  adversary,  it  made  him  appear 
contemptible  to  run  away  at  last  on  the  first  ap- 
proach of  Caesar :  "  Did  you  ever  see,  (says  Cae- 
"  lius,)  a  more  silly  creature  than  this  Pompey  of 
"  yours  ;  who,  after  raising  all  this  bustle,  is  found 
"  to  be  such  a  trifler  ?  or  did  you  ever  read  or 
"  hear  of  a  man  more  vio^orous  in  action,  more 
"  temperate  in  victory,  than  our  Caesar  ?"^ 

Pompey  had  left  Italy  about  a  year  before  Cae- 
sar found  it  convenient  to  go  after  him  ;  during 
which  time,  he  had  gathered  a  vast  fleet  from  all 
the  maritime  states  and  cities  dependent  on  the 
empire,  without  making  any  use  of  it  to  distress 
an  enemy  who  had  no  fleet  at  all:  he  suffered 
Sicily  and  Sardinia  to  fall  into  Caesar's  hands 
without  a  blow  ;  and  the  important  town  of  Mar- 
seilles, after  having  endured  a  long  siege  for  its  af- 
fection to  his  cause:  but  his  capital  errour  was 
the  giving  up  Spain,  and  neglecting  to  put  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  best  army  that  he  had,  in  a 
country  devoted  to  his  interests,  and  commodious 
for  the  operations  of  his  naval  force.  When  Cicero 
first  heard  of  this  resolution,  he  thought  it  mon- 
strous ;t  and  in  truth,  the  committing  that  war  to 


Si  iste  Italiam  relinquet,  faciei  oranino  male,  et  ut  ego  existimo 
AKcyi<rra>g,  etc.      lb.  9.   10. 

*  Ecquando  tu  hominem  iueptiorem  quain  tiiiim  Cn.  Pompfiium 
vidisti  ?  qui  tantas  tiirbas,  qui  tain  nugax  esset  coiuinorit  ^  ecquem 
autera  Caesare  nostro  acriorein  in  rebus  agendis,  eodein  in  victoria 
temperatiorem,  aut  legisti  aut  audisti  ?  Ep.  Fara.  3.  15. 

*  Omnis  haec  classis  Alexandria,  Colchis,  Tyrio,  Sidone,  Cypro. 


304  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  \u, 

A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Marcellus.  L.  Com.  Lentulus  Cms. 


his  lieutenants  against  the  superiour  genius  and 
ascendant  of  Caesar,  was  the  ruin  of  his  best  troops 
and  hopes  at  once. 

Some  have  been  apt  to  wonder,  why  Caesar,  af- 
ter forcing  Pompey  out  of  Italy,  instead  of  cross- 
ing the  sea  after  him,  when  he  was  in  no  condi- 
tion to  resist,  should  leave  him  for  the  space  of  a 
year  to  gather  armies  and  fleets  at  his  leisure,  and 
strengthen  himself  with  all  the  forces  of  the  east. 
But  Caesar  had  good  reasons  for  what  he  did  :  he 
knew,  that  all  the  troops,  which  could  be  drawn 
together  from  those  countries,  were  no  match  for 
his ;  that  if  he  had  pursued  him  directly  to  Greece, 
and  driven  him  out  of  it,  as  he  had  done  out  of 
Italy,  he  should  have  driven  him  probably  into 
Spain,  where  of  all  places,  he  desired  the  least  to 
meet  him  ;  and  where  in  all  events  Pompey  had  a 
sure  resource,  as  long  as  it  w^as  possessed  by  a  firm 
and  veteran  army  ;  which  it  was  Caesar's  business, 
therefore,  to  destroy,  in  the  first  place,  or  he  could 
expect  no  success  from  the  war  ;  and  there  was  no 
opportunity  of  destroying  it  so  favourable,  as  when 
Pompe^'^Hiimself  was  at  such  a  distance  from  it. 
This  was  the  reason  of  his  marching  back  wdth  so 
much  expedition  to  find,  as  he  said,  "an  army 
''  without  a  general,  and  return  to  a  general  with- 
'•  out   an  army."*      The   event  shewed,    that  he 

Pamphilia,  Lycia,  Rhodo,  etc.     Ad  intercludendos,  Italiae  coramea- 
tus — comparatur — Ad  Att.  9.  9. 

Nimciaiit  Aegyptum — cogkare  :  nispaniara  abjecisse.  Monstra  nar- 
rant Ad  Att.  9.  11. 

*  Ire  se  ad  excrcitum  sine  duce,  et  inde  revcrsurum  ad  ducem  sine 
exercitii.     Sueton.  J.  Caes.  31. 


I 


SECT.   vii.  CICERO.  305 


A.  Urb.  704.    Cic.  58.    Coss.— C.  Claudius  Maicellus.    L.  Com.  Lentulus   Crus. 

judged  riorht ;  for  within  forty  days  from  the  first 
sight  of  his  enemy  in  Spain,  he  made  himself  mas- 
ter of  the  whole  province.^ 


A.  Urb.  705.    Cic.  5Q.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  II.    P.  Servilius  Vatia  Isauricus. 

After  the  reduction  of  Spain,  he  was  created 
Dictator  by  M.  Lepidus,  then  praetor  at  Rome, 
and  by  his  dictatorial  power  declared  himself  con- 
sul, with  P.  Servilius  Isauricus;  but  he  was  no 
sooner  invested  with  this  office,  than  he  marched 
to  Brundisium,  and  embarked  on  the  fourth  of 
January,  in  order  to  find  out  Pompey.  Tlie  car- 
rying about  in  his  person  the  supreme  dii>;nity  of 
the  empire,  added  no  small  authority  to  his  cause, 
by  making  the  cities  and  states  abroad  the  more 
cautious  of  acting  against  him,  or  giving  them  a 
better  pretence  at  least  for  opening  their  gates  to 

the    consul  of  Rome.f Cicero,  all  this  while, 

despairing  of  any  good  from  the  war,  had  been 
using  all  his  endeavours  to  dispose  his  friends  to 
peace,  till  Pompey  forbade  any  farther  mention 
of  it  in  council,  declaring,  "  that  he  valued  neither 
"life  nor  country,  for  which  he  must  be  indebted 
"  to  Caesar,  as  the  world  must  take  the  case  to 
*•  be,  should  he  accept  any  conditions  in  his  pre- 
''  sent  circumstances."!     He  was  sensible  that  he 

*  Ca.es.  Comment.  1.  2. 

f  Illi  se  daturos  negare,  neque  portas  cousiili  praeclusuros.  Caes. 
Coram.  I.  3.  590. 

I  Desperans  victoriam,  primiira  coepi  suadere  pacem,  ciijiis  fueram 
semper  auctor  ;  deinde  cum  ab  ea  sententia  Pompeius  valde  abhor- 
reret. — Ep.  Fam.  7.  3. 

TOL.    II.  39 


306  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 

A.  Urb.  70f.    Cic  59.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  II.    P.  Sti-vilius  Vatia  Isaurieus. 

had  hitherto  been  acting  a  contemptible  part,  and 
done  nothing;  equal  to  the  ^reat  name  which  he 
had  acquired  in  the  world ;  and  was  det»  rmined 
therefore,  to  retrieve  his  honour  before  he  laid 
down  his  arms,  by  the  destruction  of  his  adversa- 
ry, or  to  perish  in  the  attempt. 

During  the  blockade  of  Dyrrhachium,  it  was  a 
current  notion  in  Caesar's  army,  that  Pompey  would 
draw  off  his  troops  into  his  ships,  and  remove  the 
war  to  some  distant  place.  Upon  this  Dolabella, 
who  w^as  with  Caesar,  sent  a  letter  to  Cicero  into 
Pompey's  camp,  exhorting  him,  "  that  if  Pompey 
"  should  be  driven  from  these  quarters,  to  seek 
"  some  other  country,  he  would  sit  down  quietly 
"  at  Athens,  or  any  city  remote  from  the  war : 
''  that  it  was  time  to  think  of  his  own  safety,  and 
"  be  a  friend  to  himself,  rather  than  to  others  : 
''  that  he  had  now  fully  satisfied  his  duty,  his  friend- 
"  ship,  and  his  engagements  to  that  party,  which 
"  he  had  espoused  in  the  republick  :  that  there 
"  was  nothing  left,  but  to  be  where  the  republick 
"itself  now  was,  rather  than  by  followinir  that  an- 

"  cient  oTie  to  be  in  none  at  all and  that  Cae- 

"sar  would  readily  approve  this  conduct:"^  but 
the  war  took  a  quite  different  turn  ;  and,  instead 
of  Pompey's   running  away    from   Dyrrhachium, 

VibulliuR de  Caesaris  mandatis  agere  instituit ;  eum  ingressum 

in  serinon<  m  Pompeiiis  interpellavit,  et  loqui  pliira  prohibuit.  Uuid 
mihi,  inquit,  aiit  vita  aiit  civitate  opus  est,  quam  beneficio  Caesari? 
habere  videbor  ?  Caes.  Comifl.  596. 

*  Illud  autem  a  te  peto,  ut,  si  jam  ille  evitaverit  hoc  pericnhira, 
et  se  abdiderit  in  classem,  tu  tuis  rebus  cou'^ulas  ;  et  aliquaiido  tibi 
potiiis  quara  cuivis  sis  amicus.  Salis  factum  est  jam  a  tc-  vel  officio, 
vel  familiaritati  ;  satis  i'acium  etiam  partibus,  et  ei  lieipub.  quam  tu 
probabas.  Keiiquuni  est,  ubi  nunc  est  Hespub.  ibi  simuspotius,  quam 
dum  veterem  illam  sequaraur,  simus  in  nulla.     Ep.  Fam.  9.  9. 


SECT.  VII.  CICERO.   .  nor 

A.  Urb.  705.    Cic.  59.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar.  II,    P.  Sjrvilius  Vatia  Isauricus. 

Caesar,  by  an  unexpected  defeat  before  it,  was 
forced  to  retire  the  first,  and  leave  to  Pompey  the 
credit  of  pursuing  him,  as  in  a  kind  of  jiight  to- 
wards Macedonia. 

While  the  two  armies  were  thus  employed,  Cae- 
lius,  now  praetor  at  Rome,  trusting  1o  his  power, 
and  the  success  of  his  party,  began  to  publish  seve- 
ral violent  and  odious  laws,  especially  one  for  the 
cancelling  of  all  debts.*  This  raised  a  great  flame 
in  the  city,  till  he  was  overruled  and  deposed  from 
his  magistracy  by  the  consul  Servilius,  and  the 
senate :  but  being  made  desperate  by  this  affront, 
he  recalled  Milo  from  his  exile  at  Marseilles,  whom 
Caesar  had  refused  to  restore ;  and,  in  concert  with 
him,  resolved  to  raise  some  publick  commotion  in 
favour  of  Pompey.  In  this  disposition  he  wrote 
his  last  letter  to  Cicero  ;  in  which,  after  an  account 
of  his  conversion,  and  the  service  which  he  was 
projecting,  ''  You  are  asleep,"  says  he,  "  and  do 
*'  not  know  how  open  and  weak  we  are  here  :  what 
"  are  you  doing  ?  Are  you  waiting  for  a  battle, 
"  which  is  sure  to  be  against  you  ?  I  am  not 
"  acquainted  with  your  troops  ;  but  ours  have  been 
"  long  used  to  fight  hard  ;  and  to  bear  cold  and 
"  hunger  with  ease."t  But  this  disturbance,  which 
began  to  alarm  all  Italy,  was  soon  ended  by  the 
death  of  the  authors  of  it,  Milo  and  Caelius,  who 
perished  in  their  rash  attempt,  being  destroyed  by 
the  soldiers  whom  they  were  endeavouring  to  de- 

*  Cacs.  Corainent.  3.  GOO. 

f  Vos  dormitis,  nee  haec  adhue  mihi  videmini  intelli^ere,  qnam  nos 
pateamus,  et  quam  siraiis  imbecilli — quid  istic  i'acitis  ?  praeliiira  ex- 
pec  tatis,  quod  firmissiinum  est  ?  vestras  copias  non  novi.  Nostri  vaide 
depugnare,  et  facile  algere  et  esurire,  consueverint.     Ep.  Fam.  8  17. 


308  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vii 

A.  Urb.  705.    Cic.  S9i    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar.  II.    P.  Senilius  Vatia  Isauricus. 


bauch.  They  had  both  attached  themselves  very 
early  to  the  interests  and  the  authority  of  Cicero, 
and  were  qualified,  by  their  parts  and  fortunes,  to 
have  made  a  principal  fii^ure  in  the  republick,  if 
they  had  continued  in  those  sentiments,  and  adhered 
to  his  advice;  but  their  passions,  pleasures,  and  am- 
bition f(ot  the  ascendant,  and,  through  a  factious 
and  turbulent  life,  hurried  them  on  to  this  wretched 
fate. 

All  thoughts  of  peace  being  now  laid  aside,  Ci- 
cero's next  advice  to  Pompey  was,  to  draw  the  w  ar 
into  len£;th,  nor  ever  to  give  Caesar  the  opportunity 
of  a  battle.  Pompey  approved  this  counsel,  and 
pursued  it  for  some  time,  till  he  gained  the  advan- 
tage abovemenlioned  before  Dyrrhachium ;  w  hich 
gave  him  such  a  confidence  in  his  own  troops,  and 
such  a  contempt  of  Caesar's,  "  that  from  this  mo- 
"  ment,"  says  Cicero,  "  this  great  man  ceased  to  be 
"  a  general ;  opposed  a  raw,  new-raised  army,  to 
"  the  most  robust  and  veteran  legions ;  w^as  shame- 
" fully  beaten;  and,  with  the  loss  of  his  camp, 
"  forced  to  fly  away  alone.''* 

Had  Cicero's  advice  been  followed,  Caesar  must 
inevitably  have  been  ruined :  for  Pompey's  fleet 
would  have  cut  off  all  supplies  from  him  by  sea; 
and  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  subsist  long  at 
land;  while  an  enemy,  superiour  in  number  of 
troops, was  perpetually  harassing  him,   and  wasting 

*  Cum  ab  ea  sententia  Pompeius  valde  abhorreret,  suadere  institui, 
ut  bellnm  diieeret :  hoc  interdnm  probabat,  et  in  ea  sententia  videbatnr 
fore,  et  fiiisset  fortasse,  nisi  qjiadam  ex  pi)gna  coepisset  inilitibns  suis 
confidere.  Ex  eo  tempore  vir  ille  siimmiis  niilliis  Imperator  fiiit  : 
rictus  tiirpissime,  amissis  etiam  castris,  solus  f'ligit.     Ep.  Fam.  7.  3. 


SECT.  vn.  CICERO.  309 


A  Urb.  705.    Cic  59.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar.  II.    P.  Servilius  Vatia  Isauricus. 

the  country :  and  the  report  every  where  spread 
of  his  flyino^  from  [hrrhachium  before  a  victorious 
army,  which  was  pursuing  him,  made  his  march 
every  way  the  more  difficult,  and  the  people  of  the 
country  more  shy  of  assisting  him  ;  till  the  despica- 
ble figure  that  he  seemed  to  make,  raised  such  an 
impatience  for  fighting,  and  assurance  of  victory  in 
the  Pompeian  chiefs,  as  drew  them  to  the  fatal  reso- 
lution of  giving  him  battle  at  Pharsalia.  There 
was  another  motive  likewise  suggested  to  us  by  Ci- 
cero, which  seems  to  have  had  no  small  influence  in 
determining  Pompey  to  this  unhappy  step ;  his 
superstitious  regard  to  omens,  and  the  admonitions 
of  diviners,  to  which  his  nature  was  strongly  ad- 
dicted. Tlie  haruspices  were  all  on  his  side,  and 
flattered  him  with  every  thing  that  was  prosperous  : 
and,  besides  those  in  his  own  camp,  the  whole  fra- 
ternity of  them  at  Rome  were  sending  him  per- 
petual accounts  of  the  fortunate  and  auspicious 
significations  which  they  had  observed  in  the  en- 
trails of  their  victims.* 

But  after  all,  it  must  needs  be  owned,  that  Pom- 
pey had  a  very  difficult  part  to  act,  and  much  less 
liberty  of  executing  what  he  himself  approved, 
than  in  all  the  other  wars  in  which  he  had  been  en- 
gaged. In  his  wars  against  foreign  enemies,  his 
power  Avas  absolute,  and  all  his  motions  depended 
on  his  own  will ;  but  in  this,  besides  several  kings 
and  princes  of  the  east,  who  attended  him  in  per- 
son, he  had  with  him  in  his  camp  almost  all  the 
chief  magistrates   and  senators   of  Rome  ;  men  of 


*  Hoc  civili    hello,    Dii     imraortales  ! quae  nohi<5   in  Graeciam 

Roma  responsa   Haruspiciim   mis«a   sunt  ?  quae   dicta  Pompcio  ? 

etenira  ille  admodura  extis  et  ostentis  inovebatur.     De  Div.  2..24. 


310  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vii. 


A.  Urb.  705.    Cic.  59.     Coss,— C-  Julius  Caesar.  II.    P.  Servilius  Vatia  Isauricus. 

equal  dignity  with  himself,  who  had  commanded 
armies,  and  obtained  triumphs,  and  expected  a  share 
in  all  his  councils,  and  that,  in  their  common  dan- 
ger, no  step  should  be  taken,  but  by  their  common 
advice :  and  as  they  were  under  no  engaojement  to 
his  cause,  but  what  was  voluntary,  so  they  were 
necessarily  to  be  humoured,  lest  through  disgust 
they  should  desert  it.  iNovv  these  were  all  uneasy 
in  their  present  situation,  and  longed  to  be  at  home 
in  the  enjoyment  of  their  estates  and  honours ;  and 
having  a  confidence  of  victory  from  the  number  of 
their  troops,  and  the  reputation  of  their  leader,  were 
perpetually  teazing  Pompey  to  the  resolution  of  a 
battle  ;  charging  him  wdth  a  design  to  protract  the 
war,  for  the  sake  of  perpetuating  his  authority; 
and  calling  him  another  Agamemnon,  who  was 
proud  of  holding  so  many  kings  and  generals  under 
his  command  ;^  till,  being  unable  to  withstand  their 
reproaches  any  longer,  he  was  driven,  by  a  kind  of 
shame,  and  against  his  judgment,  to  the  experiment 
of  a  decisive  action. 

Caesar  was  sensible  of  Pompey's  difficulty,  and 
persuaded  that  he  could  not  support  the  indignity 
of  shewing  himself  afraid  of  fighting  ;  and  from 
that  assurance  exposed  himself  often  more  rashly 
than  prudence  would  otherwise  justify:  for  his 
besieging  Pompey  at  Dyrrhachium,  who  was  mas- 
ter of  the  sea,  which  supplied  every  thing  to  him 
that  was  wanted,  while  his  own  army  was  starving 
at  land;  and  the  attempt  to  block  up  entrench- 


<J/flt  Tov  7roKifA.ov  «g;^ev  ;  i^iO-TH   rm  oiMtav,  xcryta-fAcev,  kai   ividuKiv  uvroti.      A  pp.  p. 
470. 

Milites  otium,  socii  moram,  principes  ambitum  ducis  increpabant. 
Flor.  1.  4.  2.     Dio.  p.  185.     Plut.  inPorap. 


SECT.    VII. 


CTCERO.  311 


A.  Urb.  705.    Cic,  59.    Coss,— C.  Julius  Caesar  II.    P.  Servilius  Vatia  Isauricus. 


merits  so  widely  extended,  with  much  smaller  num- 
bers than  were  employed  to  defend  them,  must 
needs  be  thought  rash  and  extravagant,  were  it  not 
for  the  expectation  of  drawing  Pompey  by  it  to  a 
general  engagement :  for  when  he  could  not  gain  that 
end,  his  perseverance  in  the  seige  had  like  to  have 
ruined  him,  and  would  inevitably  have  done  so,  if 
he  had  not  quitted  it,  as  he  himself  afterwards 
owned."^ 

It  must  be  observed,  likewise,  that,  while  Pom- 
pey had  any  walls  or  entrenchments  between  him 
and  Caesar,  not  all  Caesar's  vigour*,  nor  the  courage 
of  his  veterans,  could  gain  the  least  advantage 
against  him  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  Caesar  was 
baffled  and  disappointed  in  every  attempt.  Thus 
at  Brundisium  he  could  make  no  impression  upon 
the  town,  till  Pompey  at  full  leisure  had  secured 
his  retreat,  and  embarked  his  troops :  and  at  Dyr- 
rachium,  the  onlv  considerable  action,  which  hap- 
peried  between  them,  was  not  only  disadvantageous, 
but  almost  fatal  to  him.  Thus  far  Pompey  cer- 
tainly shewed  himself  the  greater  captain,  in  not 
suffering  a  force,  which  he  could  not  resist  in  the 
field,  to  do  him  any  hurt,  or  carry  any  point  against 
him  ;  since  that  depended  on  the  skill  of  the  ge- 
neral. By  the  help  of  entrenchments,  he  knew 
how  to  make  his  new  raised  soldiers  a  match  for 
Caesar's  veterans  ;  but  when  he  was  drawn  to  en- 
counter him  on  the  open   plain,  he  fought  against 

*  Cae«ar  pro  natura  ierox,  ct  conficiendae  rei  cnpidus,  ostentarc 
aciein,  provocarc,  lacessere  ;  nunr  obsiilioiie  castronim,  quae  sedecim 
railliiim  vallo  obduxerat ;  (sed  quid  his  obesset  obsidio,  qui  palente 
mari  omnibus  copiis  abuudarent  ?)  nunc  expugnatione  Dyrrhacliii 
irrita,  etc.     F'lor.  1.  4.  e.  2. 

^/uojioytl  T»  fxtloLytYctoTiuv  Trgn;  Avpp*;:^/^  «rT§3i7c7rf/£V!rjt?,  Cte.      A  pp.  p.  468. 


312  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.    vii. 


A.  Urb.  705.    Cic.  59.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  II.    P.  Servilius  Vatla  Isauricus. 

insuperable  odds,  by  deserting  "  his  proper  arms," 
as  Cicero  says,  "■  of  caution,  council,  and  authority, 
'•  in  which  he  was  superiour,  and  committing  his  fate 
"  to  swords  and  spears,  and  bodily  strength,  in  which 
*'  his  enemies  far  excelled  him.""^ 

Cicero  w^as  not  present  at  the  battle  of  Pharsa- 
lia,  but  was  left  behind  at  Dyrrhachium,  much  out 
of  humour,  as  well  as  out  of  order :  his  discontent 
to  see  all  things  going  wrong  on  that  side,  and  con- 
trary to  his  advice,  had  brought  upon  him  an  ill 
habit  of  body,  and  weak  state  of  health  ;  which 
made  him  decline  all  publick  command;  but  he 
promised  Pompey  to  follow,  and  continue  with  him, 
as  soon  as  his  health  permitted  ;t  and,  as  a  pledge 
of  his  sincerity,  sent  his  son  in  the  mean  while 
along  with  him,  who,  though  very  young,  behaved 
himself  gallantly,  and  acquired  great  applause  by 
his  dexterity  of  riding  and  throwing  the  javelin, 
and  performing  every  other  part  of  military  disci- 
pline at  the  head  of  one  of  the  wings  of  horse,  of 
which  Pompey  had  given  him  the  command.:]:  Cato 
staid  behind  also  in  the  camp  at  Dyrrhachium, 
which  he  ^commanded  with  fifteen  cohorts,  when 
Labienus  brought  them  the  news  of  Pompey 's  de~ 


*  JVon  iis  rebus  pugnabamus,  qnibus  valere  poterainus,  consilio,  auc- 
toritate,  causa,  quae  erant  in  nobis  superiora ;  sed  lacertis  et  viribus, 
quibus  pares  non  fuimns.     Ep.  Faiii.  4.  7. 

Dolebamque  piiis  et  gladiis,  non  consiliis  neque  auctoritatibus  nos- 
tris,  de  jure  publico  disceptari — Ep.  Fam.  6.  1. 

f  Ipse  fiigi  adhuc  omnc  murjus,  eo  magis,  quod  nihil  ita  poterat  agi, 
lit  raihi  et  mcis  rebus  aptuin  esset — me  conficit  solicitudo,  ex  qua 
etiam  summa  inlirmitas  corporis ;  quo  levata,  ero  cum  eo,  qui  nego- 
tium  gerit,  estque  in  magna  spe — Ad  Att.  xi.  4. 

I  Uuo  tamen  in  bello  cum  te  Pompeius  alae  alteri  praefeejsset, 
magnam  laudem  et  a  summo  viro  et  ab  exerritu  consequebare,  equi- 
tando,  jaculando,  omni  militari  labore  tolerando :  atque  ea  quidem 
tua  laus  pari ter  cum  Repub.  cecidit-     De  Offic,  2.  13. 


SECT.    VII. 


CICERO.  313 


A.  Urb.  705.    Cic.  59.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  II.    P.  Senilius  Vatia  Isauricus. 

feat :  upon  which  Cato  offered  the  command  to 
Cicero  as  the  superiour  in  dignity ;  and,  upon  his 
refusal  of  it,  as  Plutarch  tells  us,  young  Pompey 
was  so  enraged,  that  he  drew  his  sword,  and  would 
hav^e  killed  him  upon  the  spot,  if  Cato  had  not 
prevented  it.  This  fact  is  not  mentioned  by  Cice- 
ro, yet  seems  to  be  referred  to  in  his  speech  for 
Marcellus,  where  he  says,  that  in  the  very  war, 
he  had  been  a  perpetual  asserter  of  peace,  to  the 
hazard  even  of  his  life.^  But  the  wretched  news 
from  Pharsalia  threw^  them  alJ  into  such  a  conster- 
nation, that  they  presently  took  shipping,  and  dis- 
persed themselves  severally,  as  their  hopes  or  incli- 
nations led  them,  into  the  diflerent  provinces  of 
the  empire.f  The  greatest  part  who  were  deter- 
mined to  renew  the  war,  went  directly  into  Africk, 
the  general  rendezvous  of  their  scattered  forces; 
w  hilst  others,  who  were  disposed  to  expect  the  far- 
ther issue  of  things,  and  take  such  measures  as  for- 
tune offered,  retired  to  Achaia:  but  Cicero  was 
resolved  to  make  this  the  end  of  the  war  to  him- 
self; and  recommended  the  same  conduct  to  his 
friends ;  declaring,  tiiat  as  they  had  been  no  match 
for  Caesar,  when  entire,  they  could  not  hope  to 
beat  him,  when  shattered  and  broken:!  and  so, 
after  a  miserable  campaign  of  about  eighteen 
months,  he  committed  himself  without  hesitation 
to  the  mercy  of  the  conqueror,  and  landed  again 
at  Brundisium  about  the  end  of  October. 


*  Miilta  de  pace  dixi,  et  in  ipso  bello,  eadem  etiam  cum  capitis  mei 
periculo  sensi.     Pro  Marcell.  5. 

t  Faucis  sane  post  diebus  ex  Pharsalica  fuga  venisse  I.abjpnum  :  qui 
cum  interitum  exercitus  nunciavisset — naves  subito  perterriti  con- 
scendistis.     De  Divin.  1.  32. 

I  Hunc  ego  belli  mihi  finem  feci,  nee  putavi,  cura  integri  pares  non 
liiissemus,  fractos  superiores  fore.     Ep.  Fam.  7,  3. 
VOL.    IT.  40 


314  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 


SECTION   VIII. 


A.  Urb.  706,    Cic.  60.  Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit, 


Cicero  no  sooner  returned  to  Italy,  than  he  be- 
gan to  reflect,  that  he  had  been  too  hasty  in  com- 
ini^  home,  before  the  war  was  determined,  and 
without  any  invitation  from  the  conqueror  ;  and, 
in  a  time  of  that  general  license,  had  reason  to  ap- 
prehend some  insult  from  the  soldiers,  if  he  ven- 
tured to  appear  in  publick  with  his  fasces  and 
laurel ;  and  yet  to  drop  them,  would  be  a  diminu- 
tion of  that  honour  which  he  had  received  from 
the  Roman  people,  and  the  acknowledgment  of 
a  power  superiour  to  the  laws :  he  condemned 
himself,  therefore,  for  not  continuing  abroad,  in 
some  convenient  place  of  retirement,  till  he  had 
been  sent  for,  or  things  were- better  settled.^  Wliat 
gave  himlhe  greater  reason  to  repent  of  this  step 
was,  a  message  that  he  I'eceived  from  Antony, 
who  governed  ail  in  Caesar's  absence,  and  with  the 
same  churlish  spirit  with  which  he  would  have 
held  him  before  in  Italy  against  his  will,  seemed 


*  Ego  vero  et  incaute,  ut  scribis,  et  celeriiis  qnarn  oportuit,  feci, 
etc.     Ad  Att.  xi.  9. 

Quare  vohmtatis  me  nieae  dunquam  poenitebit,  consilii  poenitet.  In 
oppido  aliquo  mallem  resedisse,  quoad  arcesserer.  Minus  sermonis 
subiissein  :  minus  accepissem  doloris :  ipsum  hoc  non  me  angeret. 
Brundisii  jacere  in  omnes  partes  est  niolestum.  Propius  accedere, 
ut  suades,  quomodo  sine  lictoribus,  quos  populus  dedit,  po§sum  ? 
qui  mihi  incolumi  adimi  non  possunt.     Ad  Att.  xi.  6. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  315 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60.  Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 


now  disposed  to  drive  him  out  of  it ;  for  he  sent 
him  the  copy  of  a  letter  from  Caesar,  in  which 
Caesar  signified,  "  that  he  had  heard  that  Cato  and 
"  Metellus  were  at  Rome,'  and  appeared  openly 
"  there,  which  mio;ht  occasion  some  disturbance : 
"  wherefore,  he  strictly  enjoined,  that  none  should 
"  be  SLitfered  to  come  to  Italy  without  a  special 
"  license  from  himself.  Antony,  therefore,  desired 
"  Cicero  to  excuse  him,  since  he  could  not  help 
"  obevinor  Caesar's  commands :  but  Cicero  sent  L. 
"  Lamia  to  assure  him,  that  Caesar  had  ordered 
"  Dolabella  to  write  to  him  to  come  to  Italy  as 
"  soon  as  he  pleased  ;  and  that  he  came  upon  the 
"  authority  of  Dolabella's  letter  :"  so  that  Antony, 
in  the  edict  which  he  published  to  exclude  the 
Pompeians  from  Italy,  excepted  Cicero  by  name  ; 
which  added  still  to  his  mortification,  since  all  his 
desire  was  to  be  connived  at  only,  or  tacitly  per- 
mitted, without  being  personally  distinguished  from 
the  rest  of  his  party.^ 

But  he  had  some  other  grievances  of  a  domes- 
tick  kind,  which  concurred  also  to  make  him  un- 
happy ;  his  brother  (iuintus,  with  his  son,  after 
their  escape  from  Pharsalia,  followed  Caesar  into 
Asia,  to  obtain  their  pardon  from  him  in  person. 
Quint  us  had  particular  reason  to  be  afraid  of  his 
resentment,  on  account  of  the  relation  which  he 
had  borne  to  him,  as  one  of  his  lieutenants  in  Gaul, 


*  Sed  quid  egjo  de  lictoribus,  qui  paene  ex  Italia  decedcre  sim 
jiissus  ?  nam  ad  me  misit  Antonius  exempliim  Caesaris  ad  se  litera- 
rum;  in  quibus  erat,  se  andissc,  Catonem  et  L.  Metelium  in  Ita- 
liain  venisse,  Horaac  nt  essent  palam,  etc.  Turn  ille  edixit.  jta,  ut 
ine  exciperet  et  Laelirim  noniinatim.  Quod  sane  nollem.  Poterat 
enira  sine  nomino,  re  ipsa  excipi.  O  muilas  graces  offcnsiones  ! — 
lb.  7. 


816  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vin. 


A.  Ui-b.  706.    Cic.  fiO.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesav  Dictat.  U.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

where  he  had  been  treated  by  him  with  great  ge- 
nerosity ;  so  that  Cicero  himself  would  have  dis- 
suaded him  from  going  over  to  Pompey,  but 
could  not  prevail ;  yet,  in  this  common  calamity, 
Quintus,  in  order  to  make  his  own  peace  the 
more  easily,  resolved  to  throw  all  the  blame  upon 
his  brother,  and,  for  that  purpose,  made  it  the  sub- 
ject of  all  his  letters  and  speeches  to  Caesar's 
friends,  to  rail  at  him  in  a  manner  the  most  in- 
human. 

Cicero  was  informed  of  this  from  all  quarters, 
and  that  young  Gtuintus,  who  was  sent  befnre  to- 
wards Caesar,  had  read  an  oration  to  his  friend^ 
which  he  had  prepared  to  speak  to  him,  ao;ain^t  tiis 
uncle.  Nothing,  as  Cicero  says,  ever  happened 
more  shocking  to  him ;  and,  though  he  had  no 
small  diffidence  of  Caesar's  inclination,  and  many 
enemies  labouring  to  do  him  ill  offices,  yet  his 
greatest  concern  was,  lest  his  brother  and  nephew 
should  hurt  themselves  rather  than  him,  by  their 
perfidy  :^  for,  under  all  the  sense  of  this  7>rovoca- 
tion,  his  behaviour  was  just  the  reverse  of  theirs  ; 
and  havilTg  been  informed  that  Caesar,  in  a  certain 
conversation,  had  charged  his  brother  with  being 
the  author  of  their  going  away  to  Pompey,   he 

*  Quintus  misit  filium  non  solum  sui  deprecatorera,  sed  etiara  ac- 
eusatorem  mei,  neque  vero  desistet,  ubicunque  est  omnia  in  me  raa- 
ledicta  conferre.  Niliil  mihi  unquam  tarn  incredibile  accidit,  nihil 
in  his  raalis  tarn  acerbum.     lb.  8. 

Epistolas  mihi  legerunt  pl^nas  omnium  in  me  probronim,  ipsi  enira 
illi  putavi  perniciosum  fore, 'si  ejus  hoc  tautura  scelus  percrebuisset. 
lb.  9. 

Quintum  filium,  voluraen  sibi  ostendisse  orationis,  quam  apnd  Cae- 
sarem  contra  me  esset  habiturus,  multa  postea  patris,  consimili  sce- 
!ere  secum  cjuintum  Pj^trera  esse  locutuiHo     lb.  10, 


SECT.    Vlli 


CJCERO.  317 


A.  Uib.  706.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  H.  >L  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

took   occasion   to  write  to  him  in   the  following 
tenns  : 

"  As  for  my  brother,  1  am  not  less  solicitous  for 
"his  safety  than  my  own;  but,  in  my  present 
"  situation,  dare  not  venture  to  recommend  him 
"  to  you  ;  all  that  I  can  pretend  to,  is,  to  beg  that 
"  you  will  not  believe  him  to  have  ever  dorje  any 
"  thing  towards  obstructing  my  good  offices  and 
"  affection  to  you  ;  but  rather,  that  he  was  always 
"the  adviser  of  our  union,  and  the  companion,  not 
''  the  leader  of  my  voyage :  wherefore,  in  all 
"  other  respects,  1  leave  it  to  you  to  treat  him,  as 
"  your  own  humanity,  and  his  friendsliip  witli  you, 
"require;  but  1  entreat  you,  in  the  most  pressing 
**  manner,  that  1  may  not  he  the  cause  of  hurting 
"  him  with  you,  on  any  account  whatsoever."* 

He  found  himself,  likewise,  at  this  time,  in  some 
distress  for  want  of  money,  which,  in  that  season 
of  publick  distraction,  it  was  very  difficult  to  pro- 
cure, either  by  borrowing  or  selling :  the  sum, 
which  he  advanced  to  Pompey,  had  drained  liim  : 
and  his  wife,  by  her  indulgence  to  stewards,  and 
favourite  servants,  had  made  great  waste  of  what 
was  left  at  home  ;  and,  instead  of  saving  any  thing 
from  their  rents,  had  plunged  him  deeply  into 
debt;  so  that  Atticus's  purse  was  the  chief  fund 
which  he  had  to  trust  to  for  his  present  support.f 


*  Cum  mihi  litterae  a  Balbo  minore  missae  essent.  Caesarem  exi?- 
timare,  Uuintiira  fratrera  liluiiin  meae  prolectionis  luisse,  sic  eniin 
scripsit.     Ad  Att.  xi.   12. 

t  Velim  consideres  ut  sit,  unde  nobis  snppeditentiir  suintus  neces- 
sarii.  Si  qiias  habuinms  Caciiltates,  eas  Poiiipt-io.  Uini,  cuiu  vide- 
bamur  sapienter  facere,  detiilimiis.     lb.  13.  2.  22,  etc. 


318  THE    LIFE   OF  sect.  viii. 

A,  Urb.  706.     Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesav  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

The  conduct  of  Dolabella  was  a  farther  mortifi- 
cation to  him  ;  who,  by  the  fiction  of  an  adoption 
into  a  plebian  family,  had  obtained  the  tribunate  this 
year,  and  was  raising  great  tumults  and  disorders 
in  Rome,  by  a  law,  which  he  published,  to  expunge 
all  debts.  Laws  of  that  kind  had  been  often  at- 
tempted by  desperate  or  ambitious  magistrates  ; 
but  were  always  detested  by  the  better  sort,  and 
particularly  by  Cicero,  who  treats  them  as  perni- 
cious to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  states,  and  sap- 
ping the  very  foundation  of  civil  society,  by  des- 
troying all  faith  and  credit  among  men.^  No  won- 
der, therefore,  that  we  find  him  taking  this  affair  so 
much  to  heart,  and  complaining  so  heavily,  in  many 
of  his  letters  to  Atticus,  of  the  famed  acts  of  his 
son-in-law,  as  an  additional  source  of  affliction  and 
disgrace  to  him.t  Dolabella  was  greatly  embar- 
rassed  in  his  fortunes,  and,  while  he  was  with  Cae- 
sar abroad,  seems  to  have  left  his  wife  destitute  of 
necessaries  at  home,  and  forced  to  recur  to  her 
father  for  her  subsistence.  Cicero  likewise,  either 
through  the  difficulty  of  the  times,  or  for  want  of  a 
sufficient^^ttlement  on  Dolabella's  part,  had  not 
yet  paid  all  her  fortune ;  which  it  was  usual  to  do 
at  three  different  payments,  within  a  time  limited 
by  law :  he  had  discharged  the  two  first,  and  was 
now  preparing  to  make  the  third  payment,  which 
he  frequently  and  pressingly  recommends  to  the 

*  Nee  enim  ulla  res  veheraentius  Rempub.  eontinet,  quam  fides : 
quae  esse  nulla  potest,  nisi  etit  necessaria  soliitio  reriim  creditarum, 
etc.  de  Uffic.  2.  24. 

f  Unod  rae  audis  fractiorem  esse  animo  ;  quid  putas,  cum  vidcas  ac- 
cessissc  ad  superiores  aegritudines  praeclaras  generi  actiones  ? — Ad 
Att.  11.  12. 

Etsi  ouiuiura  conspectum  horreo,  praesertim  hoc  genero — lb.  14, 
1,5,  etc. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  319 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60,    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dietat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

care  of  Alticus.^  But  Dolabella's  whole  life  and 
character  were  so  entirely  contrary  to  the  manners 
and  temper  both  of  Cicero  and  Tullia,  that  a  di- 
vorce ensued  between  them  not  long  after,  though 
the  account  of  it  is  delivered  so  darkly,  that  it  is 
hard  to  say  at  what  time  or  from  what  side  it  first 
arose. 

In  these  circumstances  Tullia  paid  her  father  a 
visit  at  Brundisium  on  the  thirteenth  of  June  :  but 
his  great  love  for  her,  made  their  meeting  only  the 
more  afflicting  to  him  in  that  abject  state  of  their 
fortunes ;  ''  I  was  so  far,"  says  he,  "  from  taking 
"  that  pleasure  which  I  ought  to  have  done  from  the 
"virtue,  humanity,  and  piety  of  an  excellent 
"  daughter,  that  I  was  exceedingly  grieved  to  see 
"  so  deserving  a  creature  in  such  an  unhappy  con- 
"  dition,  not  by  her  own,  but  wholly  by  my  fault  : 
"  I  saw  no  reason,  therefore,  for  keeping  her  longer 
"here,  in  this  our  common  affliction;  but  was  wil- 
"  ling  to  send  her  back  to  her  mother  as  soon  as  she 
"  would  consent  to  it."t 

At  Brundisium  he  received  the  news  of  Pom- 
pey's  death,  which  did  not  surprise  him,  as  we  find 
from  the  short  reflection  that  he   makes  upon  it : 

*  De  dote,  quod  scribis,  per  oinnes  deos  te  obtestor,  nt  totam  rem 

suscipias,  et  illam  uiiscram  iiiea  culpa tueare  irieis  opibus,  si  quae 

suut  ;   tuis,  quibus  tibi  non  molestuin  erit  facnltatibus.     lb.  11.  2. 

De  pensione  altera,  oro  te,  omni  cura  considera  quid  faciendum 
sit.— lb.  11.  4. 

f  Tullia  mea  ad  me  venit  prid.  id  Juu. — Ego  autem  ex  ipsius  virtute, 
humanitate,  pielate  non  modo  earn  voluptatem  non  cepi,  quani  capere 
ex  siugulari  tilia  debui,  sed  etiara  incredibili  sum  dolore   aflfectus,  tab. 
ingeuium   in  tarn    miseia   furtuna    versari. — lb.    11.  17.     Ep.   Fam 
14.  11. 


320  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  vih 


A.  Urb.  706.     Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 


"  As  lo  Pompey'send,"  (says  he,)  '^I  never  had  any 
"  doubt  about  it :  for  the  lost  and  desperate  state  of 
"  his  affairs  had  so  possessed  the  minds  of  all  the 
"  kino;s  and  states  abroad,  that  vvliithersoever  he 
"  went,  I  took  it  for  2;ranted  that  this  would  be  his 
"  fate :  I  cannot  however  help  grieving  at  it ;  for  I 
"  knew  him  to  be  an  honest,  grave,  and  worthy 
"man."^ 

This  was  the  short  and  true  character  of  the 
man  from  one  who  perfectly  knew  him ;  not  height- 
ened, as  we  sometimes  find  it,  by  the  shining  co- 
lours of  his  eloquence  ;  nor  depressed  by  the  dark- 
er strokes  of  his  resentment.  Pompey  had  early 
acquired  the  surname  of  the  Great,  by  that  -sort  of 
merit  which,  from  the  constitution  of  tlie  repub- 
lick,  necessarily  made  him  great ;  a  fame  and  suc- 
cess in  war,  superiour  to  what  Rome  bad  ever 
known  in  the  most  celebrated  of  her  generals.  He 
had  triumphed  at  three  several  times  over  the  three 
different  parts  of  the  known  world,  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa ;  and  by  his  victories  had  almost  doubled  the 
extent,  as  well  as  the  revenues,  of  the  Roman  do- 
minion ;  fCTi',  as  he  declared  to  the  people  on  his  re- 
lurn  fiom  the  Mithridatick  war,  •'  he  had  found  the 
'^  lesser  Asia  the  boundary,  but  left  it  the  middle  of 
"  their  Empire.  He  was  about  six  years  older  than 
"  Caesar ;"  and  while  Caesar,  immersed  in  pleasures, 
oppressed  with  debts,  and  suspected  by  all  honest 
men,  was  hardly  able  to   shew  his  head  ;  Pompey 

*  De Pompeii  exitu  raihi  diibiura  nunqiiam  fnit :  tanta  enim  despe- 
ratio  rsnim  ejus  omnium  regum  et  popniornm  animos  ofcuparat,  lit 
quocnnque  venisset,  hot*  putarem  fiiturnm.  Non  possum  ejus  casnm 
non  dolere  .  hominem  enim  integrum  et  castum  et  gravem  cognovi. 
AdAtt.  11.6. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  821 


A.  Vrbi  706.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equiu 

was  flourishing  in  the  heio;ht  of  power  and  i]!;lory, 
and  by  the  consent  of  all  parties  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  republick.  This  was  the  post  that  his  ambi- 
tion seemed  to  aim  at,  to  be  the  first  man  in  Rome  ; 
the  Lender,  not  the  Tyrant  of  his  country :  for  he 
more  than  once  had  it  in  his  power  to  have  made 
himself  the  master  of  it  without  any  risk ;  if  his 
virtue,  or  his  phlegm  at  least,  had  not  restrained 
him  :  but  he  lived  in  a  perpetual  expectation  of  re- 
ceiving, from  the  gift  of  the  people,  what  he  did 
not  care  to  seize  by  force  ;  and,  by  fomenting  the 
disorders  of  the  city,  hoped  to  drive  them  to  the 
necessity  of  creating  him  Dictator.  It  is  an  ob- 
servation of  all  the  historians,  that  while  Caesar 
made  no  difference  of  power,  whether  it  was  con- 
ferred or  usurped  :  whether  over  those  who  loved, 
or  those  who  feared  him :  Pompey  seemed  to 
value  none  but  what  was  offered  ;  nor  to  have  any 
desire  to  govern,  but  with  the  good  will  of  the 
governed.  What  leisure  he  found  from  his  wars, 
he  employed  in  the  study  of  polite  letters,  and 
especially  of  eloquence,  in  which  he  would  have 
acquired  great  fame,  if  his  genius  had  not  drawn 
him  to  the  more  dazzling  glory  of  arms :  yet  he 
pleaded  several  causes  with  applause,  in  the  de- 
fence of  his  friends  and  clients;  and  some  of 
them  in  conjunction  with  Cicero.  His  language 
was  copious  and  elevated  ;  his  sentiments  just ;  his 
voice  sweet ;  his  action  noble,  and  full  of  dignity. 
But  his  talents  were  better  formed  for  arms,  than 
the  gown  :  for  though,  in  both,  he  observed  the 
same  discipline,  a  perpetual  modesty,  temperance, 
and  gravity  of  outward  behaviour ;  yet,  in  the  li- 
cense of  camps,  the  example  w^as  more  rare  and 
striking.     His  person  was  extremely  graceful,  and 

VOL.    11.  41 


322  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  viii, 


A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 


imprintinoj  respect ;  yet  with  an  air  of  reserve 
and  hau|/htiness,  which  became  the  general  bet- 
ter than  the  citizen.  His  parts  were  plausible, 
rather  than  great ;  specious  rather  than  penetrat- 
ing ;  and  his  view  of  politicks  but  narrow  ;  for 
his  chief  instrument  of  governing  w^as  dissimu- 
lation j  yet  he  had  not  always  the  art  to  conceal 
his  real  sentiments.  As  he  was  a  better  soldier 
than  a  statesman,  so  what  he  gained  in  the  camp  he 
usually  lost  in  the  city  ;  and  though  adored,  when 
abroad,  was  often  affronted  and  mortified  at  home ; 
till  the  imprudent  opposition  of  the  senate  drove 
him  to  that  alliance  with  Crassus  and  Caesar, 
which  proved  fatal  both  to  himself  and  the  repub- 
lick.  He  took  in  these  two,  not  as  the  partners, 
but  the  ministers  rather  of  his  power  ;  that,  by 
giving  them  some  share  with  him,  he  might  make 
his  own  authority  uncontrollable  :  he  had  no  rea- 
son to  apprehend  that  they  could  ever  prove  his 
rivals ;  since  neither  of  them  had  any  credit  or 
character  of  that  kind  which  alone  could  raise 
them  above  the  laws  ;  a  superiour  fame  and  ex- 
perience in  war,  with  the  militi*  of  the  empire 
at  their  devotion :  all  this  was  purely  his  own  ;  till, 
by  cherishing  Caesar,  and  throwing  into  his  hands 
the  only  thing  which  he  wanted,  arms  and  military 
command,  he  made  him  at  last  too  strong  for  him- 
self, and  never  began  to  fear  him,  till  it  was  too 
late  :  Cicero  warmly  dissuaded  both  his  union  and 
his  breach  with  Caesar;  and,  after  the  rupture, 
as  warmly  still,  the  thought  of  giving  him  battle: 
if  any  of  these  counsels  had  been  followed,  Pom- 
pey  had  preserved  his  life  and  honour,  and  the  re- 
publick  its  liberty.  But  he  was  urged  to  his  fate 
by  a  natujal  superstilion,  and  attention  to  those 
vain  auguries  with  which  he  was  flattered  by  all 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  323 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

the  baru spices :  he  had  seen  the  same  temper  in 
Marius  and  Sylla,  and  observed  the  happy  effects 
of  it :  but  they  assumed  it  only  out  of  policy,  he 
out  of  principle.  They  used  it  to  animate  their 
soldiers,  when  they  had  found  a  probable  opportu- 
nity of  fighting ;  but  he,  against  all  prudence  and 
probability,  was  encouraged  by  it  to  fight  to  his 
own  ruin.  He  saw  all  his  mistakes  at  last,  when 
it  was  out  of  his  power  to  correct  them ;  and  in 
his  wretched  flight  from  Pharsalia  was  forced  to 
confess,  that  he  had  trusted  too  much  to  his  hopes ; 
and  that  Cicero  had  judged  better,  and  seen  farther 
into  things  than  he.  The  resolution  of  seeking 
refuge  in  Egypt,  finished  the  sad  catastrophe  of 
this  great  man  :  the  father  of  the  reigning  prince 
had  been  highly  obliged  to  him  for  his  protection 
at  Rome,  and  restoration  to  his  kingdom  :  and  the 
son  had  sent  a  considerable  fleet  to  his  assistance 
in  the  present  war  :  but,  in  this  ruin  of  his  fortunes, 
what  gratitude  was  there  to  be  expected  from  a 
court,  governed  by  eunuchs  and  mercenary  Greeks  ? 
all  whose  politicks  turned,  not  on  the  honour  of 
the  king,  but  the  establishment  of  their  own  pow- 
er ;  which  was  likely  to  be  eclipsed  by  the  admis- 
sion of  Pompey.  How  happy  had  it  been  for  him 
to  have  died  in  that  sickness,  when  all  Italy  was 
putting  up  vow  s  and  prayers  for  his  safety  ?  or,  if 
he  had  fallen  by  chance  of  war  on  the  plains  of 
Pharsalia,  in  the  defence  of  his  country's  liberty, 
he  had  died  still  glorious,  though  unfortunate :  but, 
as  if  he  had  been  reserved  for  an  example  of  the 
instability  of  human  greatness,  he,  wiio  a  few  days 
before  commanded  kings  and  consuls,  and  all  the 
noblest  of  Rome,  was  sentenced  to  die  by  a  coun- 
cil of  slaves ;  murdered  bv  a  base  deserter ;  cast 


324  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  viii 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul  Caesar.  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 


out  naked  and  headless  on  the  Egyptian  strand ; 
and  when  the  whole  earth,  as  Yelleius  says,  had 
scarce  been  sufficient  for  his  victories,  could  not 
find  a  spot  upon  it  at  last  for  a  grave.  His  body 
was  burnt  on  the  shore  by  one  of  his  freedmen, 
with  the  planks  of  an  old  fishing  boat;  and  his 
ashes  being  conveyed  to  Rome,  were  deposited  pri- 
vately by  his  wife  Cornelia  in  a  vault  of  his  Alban 
Villa.  The  Egyptians,  however,  raised  a  monu- 
ment to  him  on  the  place,  and  adorned  it  with 
figures  of  brass,  which  being  defaced  afterwards 
by  time,  and  buried  almost  in  sand  and  rubbish, 
was  sought  out  and  restored  by  the  emperour  Ha- 
drian.'^ 


*  Hiijiis  viri  fastiginm  tantis  auctibiis  fortuna  extulit,  ut  primuin  ex 
Africa,  iterum  ex  Europa,  tertio  ex  Asia  triumpharet :  et  quot  par- 
tes terrarum  Orbis  sunt,  totidem  faceret  monumenta  victoriae.  [Veil. 
Pat  2.  40.J  Ut  ipse  in  concione  dixit. — Asiara  ultimam  provinciarum 
accepisse,  mediam  patriae  reddidisse.  [Pliii.  Hist.  7.  26.  Flor.  3.  5.] 
Potentiae  quae  honoris  causa  ad  euin  deierretur,  non  ut  ab  eo  occu- 
paretur,  cupidissimus.  [Veil.  Pat.  2.  29.  Dio.  p.  178.]  Mens  autera 
aequalis  Cn.  Pompeius,  vir  ad  omnia  surama  natus,  raajorem  dicendi 
gloriam  habuisset,  nisi  eum  majoris  gloriae  cupiditas  ad  bellicas  lau- 
des  abstraxisset.  Erat  oratione  satis  amplus  :  rem  prudenter  vide- 
bat :  actio  vero  ejus  habebat  et  in  voce  magnum  splendorem,  et  in 
motu  summaiH  dignitatem.  [Brut.  354.  vid.  it.  pro  Balbo.  1,  2.] 
Forma  excellens,  non  ea,  qua  flos  commendatur  aetatis,  sed  ex  dig- 
iiitate  constanti.  [Veil.  Pat.  2.  29.]  fllud  os  probum,  ipsumque  hono- 
rem  eximiaefrontis.  [Plin  Hist.  7.  12.]  Solet  enim  aliud  sentire  et 
loqui,  nequetantum  valere  ingenio,  ut  non  appareat  quid  cnpiat.  [Ep. 
Fam.  8.  1.]  llle  aluit,  auxit,  armavit ille  Galliae  ulterioris  ad- 
junctor— ilie  provinciae  propagator  ;  ille  absentis  in  omnibus  adjutor. 
[Ad  Alt.  8.  3.]  Aluerat  Caesarem,  eundem  repente  timere  coeperat. 
[lb.  8.]  Ego  nihil  praetermisi,  quantum  facere,  nitique  potui,  quin 
Pompeium  a  Caesaris  conjunctione  avocarem — —idem  ego,  cum  jam 
omnes  opes  et  suas  et  populi  Romani  Pompeius  ad  Caesarem  detulis- 
set,  seroque  ea  sentire  coepis«et,  quae  ego  a.;te  multo  providerara— 
pads,  coucordjae,  compositionis  auctor  esse  non  destiti :  meaque  ilia 
vox  ex  notamultis,  Utinara,  Pompei,  cum  Caesare  societatem  ant  nun- 
quara  coisses,  aut  nunquam  diremisses !— haec  mea,  Antoni,  et  de  Pom- 
peioetde  Repub.  cousilia  fuerunt :  quae  si  valuissent,  Respub.  staret. 
[Phil.  2.  10.  j  Multi  testes,  me  et  initio  ne  conjungeret  se  cum  Caesare, 


SECT.   VIII.  CICERO.  325 


A.  Urb.  706.    Cic  60.  Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.  M.  Ajitonius  Mag.   Equit. 

On  the  news  of  Pompey's  death,  Caesar  was  de- 
clared Dictator  the  second  time  in  his  absence, 
and  M.  Antony  his  master  of  the  horse,  who  by 
virtue  of  that  post  governed  all  thin2;s  absolutely 
in  Italy.  Cicero  continued  all  the  while  at  Brun- 
disium,  in  a  situation  wholly  disagjreeable,  and 
worse  to  him,  he  says,  than  any  punishment :  for 
the  air  of  the  place  began  to  affect  his  health,  and, 
to  the  uneasiness  of  mind,  added  an  ill  state  of 
body  :*  yet,  to  move  nearer  towards  Rome,  with- 
out leave  from  his  new  masters,  was  not  thought 
advisable;  nor  did  Antony  encourage  it,  being 
pleased  rather,  we  may  believe,  to  see  him  well 
mortified  ;  so  that  he  had  no  hopes  of  any  ease  or 
comfort,  but  in  the  expectation  of  Caesar's  return  : 
which  made  his  stay  in  that  place  tlie  more  neces- 


monuisse  Pompeium,  et  postea,  ne  sejnngeret,  etc.  [Ep.  Fam.  6.  6.] 
Quid  vero  singiilaris  ille  vir  ac  paeoe  divinus  de  mc  stiiserit,  sciuot,  qui 
euin  de  Pharsalica  fuga  Paphum  prnseciiti  sunt :  minqiiam  ab  eo  men- 
tio  de  me  nisi  honorifica — cum  me  vidisse  plus  fatrretnr,  se  speravisse 
meliora.  [lb.  15.]  Qui,  si  mortem  turn  obissct,  in  amplissimis  i'or- 
tunis  occidisset ;  is  propagatione  vitae  quot,  quanta^,  quam  incredi- 
biles  hausit  calamitates  ?  [Tusc.  Disp.  1.  35. j  In  Pelusiaco  littore, 
imperio  vilissimi  regis,  consiliis  spadonum,  et  ne  quid  malis  desit, 
Septimii  desertoris  sui  gladio,  truoidator.  [Flor.  4.  2  .52]  Ae^yp- 
tura  petere  proposuit,  memor  beueficiorum  quae  in  patrem  ^jus 
Ptolemaei,— qui  turn  regnabat,  contulerat — Princeps  Homani  nominis, 
imperio,  arbitrioque  Aegyptii  mancipii  jngulatus  est~in  tantum  iii 
illo  viro  ase  discordante  fortuna,  ut  cui  modo  ad  victoriam  terra  de- 
fuerat,  deesset  ad  sepulturam.  Veil.  Pat.  2.  54.  vid.  Dio  p.  186.  it. 
Appian.  2.  481. 

Provida  Porapeio  dederat  Campania  fcbres 
Optandis.     Sed  multae  urbes,  et  pn[)lifa  vola 
Vicerunt.     Igitur  fortuna  ipsius  et  L'rbis 
Servatum  victo  caput  abstulit. 

Juv.  X.  283. 

*  Q4iodvis  enim  supplicium  levius  est  hac  permansione.  Ad  Att. 
xi.  18. 

Jam  enim  corpore  vix  sustineo  gravitatem  bujns  tocli,  qui  mibi  la- 
borem  aflferet,  in  dolore.     ib.  22. 


326  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vhi. 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic,  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  11.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

saiy,  for  the  opportunity  of  paying  his  early  com- 
pliments to  him  at  landing. 

But  what  gave  him  the  greatest  uneasiness  was, 
to  be  held  still  in  suspense,  in  what  touched  him 
the  most  nearly,  the  case  of  his  own  safety,  and 
of  Caesar's  disposition  towards  him  ;  for,  though 
all  Caesar's  friends  assured  him,  not  only  of  par- 
don, but  of  all  kind  of  favour ;  yet  he  had  receiv- 
ed no  intimation  of  kindness  from  Caesar  himself, 
who  was  so  embarrassed  in  Egypt,  that  he  had  no 
leisure  to  think  of  Italy,  and  did  not  so  much  as 
write  a  letter  thither  from  December  to  June  ;  for, 
as  he  had  rashly,  and  out  of  gayety,  as  it  were,  in- 
volved himself  there  in  a  most  desperate  war,  to  the 
hazard  of  all  his  fortunes,  he  was  ashamed,  as  Cice- 
ro says,^  to  write  any  thing  about  it,  till  he  had 
extricated  himself  out  of  that  difficulty. 

His  enemies,  in  the  mean  time,  had  greatly 
strengthened  themselves  in  Africk,  where  P.  Va- 
rus, who  first  seized  it  on  the  part  of  the  repub- 
lick,  was  supported  by  all  the  force  of  king  Juba, 
Pompey's  fast  ifriend,  and  had  reduced  the  whole 
province  to  his  obedience;  for  Curio,  after  he 
had  driven  Cato  out  of  Sicily,  being  ambitious  to 
drive  Varus  also  out  of  Africk,  and  having  transport- 
ed thither  the  best  part  of  four  legions,  which  Caesar 
had  committed  to  him,  was,  after  some  little  suc- 
cess upon  his  landing,  entirely  defeated  and  des- 
troyed, with  his  whoje  army,  in  an  engagement 
with  Sabura,  king  Jubk's  general. 


*  Ille  enim  ita  videtur  Alexandriam  tenere,  ut  euni  scribere  etiam 
pudeat  de  illis  rebus.     lb.  xi.  15. 

Nee  post  idus  Decemb.  ab  illo  datas  uUus  litteras.     lb.  17. 


3ECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  32r 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.   Caesar  Dictat.  n.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

Curio  was  a  young  nobleman  of  shining  parts ; 
admirably  formed  by  nature  to  adorn  that  charac- 
ter in  which  his  father  and  grandfather  liad  flour- 
ished before  him,  of  one  of  the  principal  orators 
of  Rome.  Upon  his  entrance  into  the  forum,  he 
was  committed  to  the  care  of  Cicero  :  but  a  natu- 
ral propensity  to  pleasure,  stimulated  by  the  ex- 
ample and  counsels  of  his  perpetual  companion 
Antony,  hurried  him  into  all  the  extravagance  of 
expense  and  debauchery  ;  for  Antony,  who  al- 
ways wanted  money,  with  which  Curio  abounded, 
was  ever  obsequious  to  his  will,  and  ministering  to 
his  lusts,  for  the  opportunity  of  gratifying  his 
own  :  so  that  no  boy,  purchased  for  the  use  of 
lewdness,  was  more  in  a  master's  power,  than  An- 
tony in  Curio's.  He  was  equally  prodigal  of  his 
money  and  his  modesty  ;  and  not  only  of  his  own, 
but  of  other  people's  ;  so  that  Cicero,  alluding  to 
the  infamous  effeminacy  of  his  life,  calls  him,  in  one 
of  his  letteis.  Miss  Curio.  But  when  the  father, 
by  Cicero's  advice,  had  obliged  him  by  his  pater- 
nal authority  to  quit  the  familiarity  of  Antony  ;  he 
reformed  his  conduct,  and,  adhering  to  the  in- 
structions and  maxims  of  Cicero,  became  the  fa- 
vourite of  the  city ;  the  leader  of  the  young  no- 
bility ;  and  a  warm  asserter  of  the  authority  of 
the  senate,  against  the  power  of  the  triumvirate. 
After  his  father's  death,  upon  his  first  taste  of  pub- 
lick  honours,  and  admission  into  the  senate,  his 
ambition  and  thirst  of  popularity  engaged  him  in 
so  immense  a  prodigality,  that,  to  supply  the 
magnificence  of  his  shews,  and  plays,  with  which 
he  entertained  the  city,  he  was  soon  driven  to  the 
necessity  of  selling  himself  to  Caesar ;  having  no 
revenue  left,  as  Pliny  says,  but  from  the  discord 


328  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  mil 

A.  Urb.  706.  Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antoiiius  Mag.  Eqult. 

of  his  citizens.  For  this  he  is  considered  com- 
monly by  the  old  writers,  as  the  chief  instrument, 
and  the  trumpet,  as  it  were,  of  the  civil  war  ;  in 
which  he  justly  fell  the  first  victim  :  yet,  after  all 
his  luxury  and  debauch,  fought  and  died  with  a 
courage  truly  Roman  ;  which  would  have  merited 
a  better  fate,  if  it  had  been  employed  in  a  better 
cause  :  for,  upon  the  loss  of  the  battle,  and  his 
best  troops,  being  admonished  by  his  friends  to 
save  himself  by  flight,  he  answered,  that,  after 
losing  an  army,  which  had  been  committed  to  him 
by  Caesar,  he  could  never  shew  his  face  to  him 
again ;  and  so  continued  fighting,  till  he  was  killed 
amonof  the  last  of  his  soldiers.^ 


Curio's   death    happened   before   the   battle   of 
Pharsalia,   while   Caesar   was  engaged  in   Spain  :t 

*  Hand  aJrum  tanta  civem  tulit  indole  Roma.     Lucan  4.  814. 

Una  familia  Curionem,  in  qua  ties  continua  serie  oratores  extite- 
rjnt.     Plin.  Mist.  7.  41. 

IVatnrain  habuit  admii'abilem  ad  diceiidum.     Brut.  406. 

Xeiuo  unqiiam  piier,  eraptus  libidinis  causa,  tarn  fuit  in  domini  po- 
testate,  quam  tii  in  Curionis.  (Philip.  2.  18.)  duce  filiola  Curionis. 
[Ad  Att.  1.  14.] 

Vir  nobilis,  "^loqiBens,  audax,  suae  alienaeqiie  et  fortunae  et  pndi- 
citiae  prodigus — cnjus  aniino,  voluptatibus  ve!  libidinibus,  neque  opes 
nllae  neque  cupiditatcs  sufficere  possent.     [Veil.  Pat.  248.] 

Nisi  meis  puer  oiim  fidelissimis  atque  ainantissiinis  consiliis  paru- 
isses.     [Ep.  Fani   2.  1.] 

Bello  anteni  rivili — non  alius  majorcra  quam  C.  Curio  subjecit  fa- 
cem— Veil.  Pat.  2.  48.) 

Quid  nunc  Rostra  libi  prosmit  iurbata,  forumque. 
Unde  Tribynitia  pkbeiiis  slgnifer  arce 
Arma  dabas  populis,  etc. 

'  Lucan.  4.  800. 

At  Curio,  nunquam,  amisso  exorcitu,  quern  a  Caesare  fidei  suae 
commissum  acceperat,  se  in  ejus  conspectum  rcversurum,  coufirmat ; 
atque  ita  praelians  interficitur.     Caes.  Conim.  tie  Bell.  Civ.  2. 

f Ante  jacesy  quam  dira  duces  Pharsalia  confert, 

Spectandumque  tibi  belliim  civile  negalum  est. 

Lucan.  lb 


BECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  329 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60.     Coss.— C.   Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

by  which  means  Africk  fell  enthely  into  the  hands 
of  the  Pompeians ;  and  became  the  s^eneral  ren- 
dezvous of  all  that  party  ;  hither  Scipio,  Cato,  and 
Labienus,  conveyed  the  remains  of  their  scattered 
troops  from  Greece,  as  Afranius  and  Petreius 
likewise  did  from  Spain ;  till  on  the  whole  tliey 
had  broui^ht  toorether  ao;ain  a  more  numerous  army 
than  Caesar's,  and  were  in  such  high  spirits,  as  to 
talk  of  coming  over  with  it  into  Italy,  before  Cae- 
sar could  return  from  Alexandria.^  This  was 
confidently  given  out,  and  expected  at  Rome  ;  and 
in  that  case,  Cicero  w^as  sure  to  be  treated  as  a  de- 
serter ;  for  while  Caesar  looked  upon  all  men  as 
friends,  who  did  not  act  against  him,  and  pardoned 
even  enemies,  w  ho  submitted  to  his  power ;  it 
was  a  declared  law  on  the  other  side,  to  consider 
all  as  enemies,  who  were  not  actually  in  their 
camp  ;t  so  that  Cicero  had  nothhig  now  to  wish, 
either  for  himself,  or  the  republick,  but,  in  the 
first  place,  a  peace,  of  which  he  had  still  some 
hopes  ;t  or  else,  that  Caesar  might  conquer ;  whose 
victory  was  like  to  prove  the  more  temperate  of 
the  two :  which  maRes  him  often  lament  the  un- 
happy situation  to  which  he  was  reduced,  where 
nothing  could  be  of  any  service  to  him,  but  what 
he  had  always  abhorred.^ 

*  li  autem  ex  Africa  jam  affuturi  videntur.     Ad  Att.  xi.  15. 

f  Te  enim  dicere  audiebamiis,  nos  omoes  adversarios  putare,  nisi 
qui  nobiscuin  essent ;  te  omues,  qui  contra  te  non  essent,  tuos.  Pro 
Ligar.  xi.  it.  Ad  Att.  xi.  6. 

J  Est  autena,  unum,  quod  mihi  sit  optandum,  si  quid  asi  de  pace 
possit :  quod  nulla  equidem  habeo  in  spe  :  sed  quia  tu  leviter  inter- 
dum  signiticas,  cogis  me  sperare  quod  optandum  vix  est— Ad  Att.  xi. 
19.  it.  12.— 

5  Mihi  cum  omnia  sunt  intolerabilia  ad  dolorem,  turn  maxime,  quod 
in  earn  causam  venisse  me  video,  ut  ea  sola  utiJia  miM  esse  videantur, 
quae  semper  nolui.     Ad  Att.  xi.  13. 

VOL.    IT.  42 


330  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.   viii. 

A.  Urb.  706.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

Under  this  anxiety  of  mind,  it  was  an  additional 
vexation  to  him  to  hear  that  his  reputation  was  at- 
tacked at  Rome,  for  submittin^^  so  hastily  to  the 
conqueror,  or  putting  himself  rather  at  all  into 
his  power.  Some  condemned  him  for  not  follow- 
ing Pompey ;  some  more  severely  for  not  going  to 
Africk,  as  the  greatest  part  had  done ;  others,  for 
not  retiring  with  many  of  his  party  to  Achaia; 
till  they  could  see  the  farther  protrress  of  the  war  : 
as  he  was  always  extremely  sensible  of  what  was 
said  of  him  by  honest  men,  so  he  begs  of  Attic  us 
to  be  his  advocate  ;  and  gives  him  some  hints,  which 
might  be  urged  in  his  defence.  As  to  the  first 
charge,  for  not  following  Pompey  he  says,  ''  that 
*'  Pompey's  fate  would  extenuate  the  omission  of 
"  that  step  :  of  the  second,  that  though  he  knew 
*'  many  brave  men  to  be  in  Africk,  yet  it  was  his 
"  opinion,  that  the  republick  neither  could,  nor 
"  ought  to  be  defended  by  the  help  of  so  barbarous 
"  and  treacherous  a  nation :  as  to  the  third,  he 
''  wishes  indeed  that  he  had  joined  himself  to  those 
*'  in  Achaia,  and  owns  them  to  be  in  a  better  condi- 
'*  tion  than  himself,  because  they  were  many  of 
*' them  togetTier ;  and  whenever  they  returned 
*'  to  Italy,  would  be  restored  to  their  own  at  once  :" 
whereas  he  was  confined  like  a  prisoner  of  war  to 
Brundisium,  without  the  liberty  of  stirring  from  it 
till  Caesar  arrived.* 


*  Dicebar  debuisse  cum  Pompeio  proficisci.  Kxitus  illius  minult  ejus 
officii  praetennissi  reprehensioneiH. — sed  ex  onjoibus  nihil  inagis  de- 
sideralur,  qiiam  quod  in  Afncam  non  ieriin.  Judicio  hoc  sura  usus, 
Don  esse  barbaris  auxiliis  fallacissiinae  gentis  Rempub.  defenden- 
dam — extremum  est  eorum,  qui  in  Achaia  sunt.  li  tamen  ipsi  se  hoc 
melius  habent.  quam  nos,  quod  et  nnilii  sunt  uno  in  loco,  et  cum  in 
Italiara  venerint,  donjuin  statim  venerint.  Haec  tH  perge,  ut  tacis, 
initigare,  et  probare  quam  plunuiis.     Ad  Att.  xi.  7. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  331 

A.  Urb.  706.   Cie.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesai-  Dictat.  II.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

While  he  continued  in  this  uneasy  state,  some  of 
his  friends  at  Rome  contrived  to  send  him  a  letter 
in  Caesar's  name,  dated  the  ninth  of  February,  from 
Alexandria,  encourai^iniy  him  to  lay  aside  all  gloomy 
apprehensions,  and  expect  every  thing  that  was  kind 
and  friendly  from  him:  but  it  was  drawn  in  terms 
so  slight  and  general,  that,  instead  of  giving  him 
any  satisfaction,  it  made  him  only  suspect,  what  he 
perceived  afterwards  to  be  true,  that  it  was  forged 
by  Balbus  or  Oppius,  on  purpose  to  raise  his  spirits, 
and  administer  some  little  comfort  to  him.^  All 
his  accounts,  however,  confirmed  to  him  the  report 
of  Caesar's  clemency  and  moderation,  and  his  grant- 
ing pardon,  without  exception,  to  all  who  asked  it  ; 
and  with  regard  to  himself,  Caesar  sent  Quintus's 
virulent  letters  to  Balbus,  with  orders  to  shew  them 
to  him,  as  a  proof  of  his  kindness,  and  dislike  of 
ftuintus's  perfidy.  But  Cicero's  present  despond- 
ency, which  interpreted  every  thing  by  his  fears, 
made  him  suspect  Caesar  the  more,  for  refusing 
grace  to  hone ;  as  if  such  a  clemency  must  needs 
be  affected,  and  his  revenge  deferred  only  to  a  sea- 
son more  convenient ;  and  as  to  his  brother's  letters, 
he  fancied,  that  Caesar  did  not  send  them  to  Italy, 
because  he  condemned  them,  but  to  make  his  pre- 
sent misery  and  abject  condition  the  more  notorious 
and  despicable  to  every  body.f 


*  Utrae  istaepistola  nihil  consoletiir ;  nam  et  exigue  scripta  est,  et 
magna*;  suspiciones  liabet,  non  esse  abillo — Ad  Att.  xi.  10. 

Ex  quo  iuteiligis,  illud  de  litteris  a.  d.  v.  Id.  Feb.  datis  (quod  inane 
esset,  etiam  si  verum  esset)  non  verum  esse.     lb.  17. 

t  Omninodicitur  neraini  uegare  :  quod  ipsum  est  suspectum,  notion- 
em  ejus  differri.     lb.  20. 

Diligenter  mihi  faseirulura  reddidit  Balbi  tabellariiis — quod  ne  Cae- 
sar quidem  ad  istos  videtur  iTiississe,  quasi  quo  illius  iniprobitateoffen- 
deretur,  sed  credo,  uti  notiora  nostra  mala  essent. — lb.  22. 


332  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Uib.  r06.    Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 

But,  after  a  long  series  of  perpetual  mortifica- 
tions, he  was  refreshed  at  last  by  a  very  oblit^ing 
letter  from  Caesar,  who  confirmed  to  him  the  full 
enjoyment  of  his  former  state  and  di2;nity,  and  bade 
him  resume  his  fasces  and  stile  of  emperour  as  be- 
fore.^ Caesar's  mind  was  too  great  to  listen  to  the 
tales  of  the  brother  and  nephew  ;  and,  instead  of 
approving  their  treachery,  seems  to  have  granted 
them  their  pardon  on  Cicero's  account,  rather  than 
their  own ;  so  that  Q^uintus,  upon  the  trial  of  Cae- 
sar's inclination,  began  presently  to  change  his  note, 
and  to  congratulate  with  his  brother  on  Caesar's 
affection  and  esteem  for  him.f 

Cicero  was  now  preparing  to  send  his  son  to  wait 
upon  Caesar,  who  was  supposed  to  be  upon  his 
journey  towards  home  ;  but  the  uncertain  accounts 
of  his  coming,  diverted  him  a  while  from  that 
thought  ;t  till  Caesar  himself  prevented  it,  and  re- 
lieved him  very  agreeably  from  his  tedious  residence 
at  Brundisium,  by  his  sudden  and  unexpected  arri- 
val in  Italy  ;  where  he  landed  at  Tarentum  in  the 
month  of  Sjeptember  ;  and  on  the  first  notice  of  his 
coming  forward  towards  Rome,  Cicero  set  oul  on 
foot  to  meet  him. 


*  Redditae  mihi  tandem  sunt  aCaesare  litterae  satis  liberales.  Ep. 
Fam.  14.  23. 

Qui  ad  me  ex  Aegypto  litteras  misit,  lit  essem  idem,  qui  fuissem  : 
qui  cum  ipse  imperator  in  toto  imperio  populi  Romani  unus  esset,  esse 
rae  alterura  passus  est  :  a  quo — concessos  fasces  laureates  tenui,  quoad 
tenendos  putavi.     Pro  Ligar.  3- 

f  Sed  mihi  valdeQuintus  gratulatur.     Ad  Att.  11.  23. 

X  Ego  cum  Sallustio  Ciceronem  ad  Caesarem  mittere  cogitabam. 
lb.  17. 

De  illius  Alexandria  discessu  nihil  adbtic  rumoris  ;  contraque  opinio, 
itaquenec  mitto,  ut  constitueram,  Ciceronem — lb.  18. 


iECT.  viii.  CICERO.  333 


A.  Urb.  706.     Cic.  60.    Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.    M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 


We  may  easily  imagine,  what  we  find,  indeed, 
from  his  letters,  that  he  was  not  a  little  discom- 
posed at  the  thouohts  of  this  interview,  and  the 
indignity  of  offering  himself  to  a  conqueror,  against 
whom  he  had  been  in  arms,  in  the  midst  of  a  li- 
centious and  insolent  rabble  :  for  though  he  had 
reason  to  expect  a  kind  reception  from  Cae?ar, 
yet  he  hardly  thought  his  life,  (he  says,)  worth 
begging ;  since  what  was  given  by  a  master,  miglit 
always  be  taken  away  again  at  pleasure.^  But, 
at  their  meeting,  he  had  no  occasion  to  say  or  do 
any  thing  that  was  below  his  dignity  :  for  Caesar 
no  sooner  saw  him,  than  he  alighted  and  ran  to 
embrace  him  ;  and  walked  with  him  alone,  con- 
versing very  familiarly  for  several  furlongs.f 

From  this  interview,  Cicero  followed  Caesar  to- 
wards Rome  :  he  proposed  to  be  at  Tusculum  on 
the  seventh  or  eighth  of  October ;  and  wrote  to 
his  wife  to  provide  for  his  reception  there,  with 
a  large  company  of  friends,  who  designed  to  make 
some  stay  with  him.t  From  Tusculum  he  came 
afterwards  to  the  city,  with  a  resolution  to  spend 
his  time  in  study  and  retreat,  till  the  republick 
should  be  restored  to  some  tolerable  state  ;  ''  hav- 
"  ing  made  his  peace  again,  as  he  writes  to  Yarro, 
"with  his  old  friends,  his  books,  who  had  been 
"  out  of  humour  with  him  for  not  obeying  their 
"  precepts ;  but,  instead  of  living  quietly  with  them, 
"as  Varro   had  done,  committing  himself  to  the 

*  Sed  non  addueor,  quemquam  bonum  ullam  salntem  milii  lanti 
fuisse  putare,  iit  earn  peterem  ab  illo — Ad  Alt.  II.  16. 

Sed ab  hoc  ipso  quae  dautiir,  ut  a  domino,  rursus  in  ejusdem 

sunt  potestate.     lb.  20. 

t  Plutar.  in  Cic.  t  p:p.  Fara.  14.  20. 


334  THE   LIFE  OF  sect,  viu- 


A.  Urb,  706.    Cic.  60.  Coss.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Dictat.  II.  M.  Antonius  Mag.  Equit. 


"  turbulent  counsels  and  hazards  of  war,  with  faith- 
"  less  companions."^ 

On  Caesar's  return  to  Rome,  he  appointed  P. 
Yatinius  and  Q,.  Fufius  Calenus,  consuls  for  the 
three  last  months  of  the  year ;  this  was  a  very 
unpopular  use  of  his  new  power,  which  he  con- 
tinued, however,  to  practise  throuj^h  the  rest  of 
his  reiiijn  ;  creating  these  first  magistrates  of  the 
state,  without  any  reg;ard  to  the  ancient  forms,  or 
recourse  to  the  people,  and  at  any  time  of  the 
year ;  which  ojave  a  sensible  diso;ust  to  the  city, 
and  an  early  specimen  of  the  arbitrary  manner  in 
which  he  designed  to  govern  them. 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus; 

About  the  end  of  the  year,  Caesar  embarked 
for  Africk,^to  pursue  the  war  against  Scipio,  and 
the  other  Pompeian  generals,  who,  assisted  by 
king  Juba,  held  the  possession  of  that  province 
with  a  vast  army. — As  he  was  sacrificing  for  the 
success  of  this  voyage,  the  victim  happened  to 
break  loose  and  run  away  from  the  altar;  which 
being  looked  upon  as  an  unlucky  omen,  the  harus- 
pex  admonished  him  not  to  sail  before  the  winter 
solstice  :  but  he  took  ship  directly,  in  contempt 


*  Scito  enim  iiie  posteaqiiam  in  urbem  venerim,  redisse  cum  ve- 
teribus  amicis.  id  est,  cum  libris  nostris,  in  gratiam — ignoscunt  mihi, 
revocant  in  consuetudinem  pristinam,  teque,  quod  in  ea  permanseris, 
sapientiorera,  quam  me  dicunt  fuisse,  etc.     Ep.  Fam.  9.  1. 


SECT.  Tin.  CICERO.  335 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

of  the  admonition ;  and,  by  that  means,  as  Cicero 
says,  came  upon  his  enemies  unprepared  ;  and  be- 
fore they  had  drawn  together  all  their  forces.^ 
Upon  his  leaviniij  the  city,  he  declared  himself 
consul,  to2;ether  with  M.  Lepidus,  for  the  year 
ensuinoj;  and  gave  the  government  of  the  Hither 
Gaul  to  M.  Brutus ;  of  Greece,  to  Servius  Sul- 
picius ;  the  first  of  whom  had  been  in  arms  against 
him  at  Pharsalia ;  and  the  second  was  a  favourer 
likewise  of  the  Pompeian  cause,  and  a  j^reat  friend 
of  Cicero,  yet  seems  to  have  taken  no  part  in  the 
war.t 

The  African  war  now  held  the  whole  empire 
in  suspense  ;  Scipio's  name  was  thought  ominous 
and  invincible  on  that  ground  ;  but  while  the  ge- 
neral attention  was  employed  on  the  expectation 
©f  some  decisive  blow,  Cicero,  despairing  of  any 


*  Quid?  Ipse  Caesar,  a  cum  summo  haruspice  moneretnr,  ne  in 
Africam  ante  brurnam  transmitteret,  nonne  fransmisit?  quod  ni  fe- 
cisset,  uno  in  loco  omnes  adversariorum  copiae  convenisset.  De 
Divin.  2.  24. 

Cum  immolanti  autugisset  bostia  profectionem  adversus  Scipionera 
et  Jubam  non  distulit.     Sueton.  J.  Caes.  59. 

Hirtius.  in  his  account  of  this  war,  says,  that  Caesar  embarked  at 
Lilybaeura  tor  Alrick  on  the  6th  of  the  kalends  of  January,  [de  Bell. 
Africk.  init.]  that  is,  on  the  27th  of  our  December  :  whereas  Cice- 
ro, in  the  passage  just  cited,  declares  him  to  have  passed  over  be- 
fore the  solstice,  or  the  shortest  day.  But  this  seeming  contradic- 
tion is  entirely  owing  to  a  cause  already  intimated,  the  great  con- 
fusion that  was  introduced  at  this  time  into  the  l«oman  kalendar,  by 
which  the  months  were  all  transposed  from  their  stated  seasons  ;  so 
that  the  27ih  of  December,  on  whi«'h,  according  to  their  computa- 
tion, Caesar  embarked,  was  in  reality  coincident,  or  the  same  with 
our  8th  ol  October,  and  consequently  above  two  months  before  the 
solstice,  or  shortest  day.  All  which  is  clearly  and  accurately  ex- 
plained in  a  learned  dissertation,  published  by  a  person  of  eminent 
merit  in  the  Tuiversity  ol  Cambridge,  who  chooses  to  conceal  hi? 
oame.     See  l3il)lioihec.  Literar.  i\*^.  VIJI.  J.ond.  1724.  4to. 

*  Brutura  Galliae  praefecit ;  Sulpicium  Graeciae.     Ep.  Fara.  6,  6 


336  THE  LIFE    OF  sect,  vin 


A.  Uib.  707.    Cic.  61,    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


good  from  either  side,  chose  to  liv^e  retired  and 
out  of  si2;ht;  and,  whether  in  the  city  or  the 
country,  shut  himself  up  with  his  books  ;  which, 
as  he  often  says,  ''  had  hitlierlo  been  the  diver- 
'*  sion  only,  but  were  now  become  the  support  of 
"  his  life."^  In  this  humour  of  study  he  entered 
into  a  close  friendship  and  correspondence  of  let- 
ters with  M.  Terentius  Yarro ;  a  friendship  equally 
valued  on  both  sides,  and,  at  Yarro's  desire,  im- 
mortalized by  the  mutual  dedication  of  their  learn- 
ed works  to  each  other;  of  Cicero's  Academick 
Questions  to  Yarro ;  of  Yarro's  Treatise  on  the 
Latin  Tongue^  to  Cicero.  Yarro  was  a  senator  of 
the  first  distinction,  both  for  birth  and  merit;  es- 
teemed the  most  learned  man  of  Rome ;  and, 
though  now  above  fourscore  yeais  old,  yet  con- 
tinued still  writing  and  publishing  books  to  his 
eighty-eighth  year.f  He  was  Pompey's  lieutenant 
in  Spain,  in  the  beginning  of  the  war ;  but,  after 
the  defeat  of  Afranius  and  Petreius,  quitted  his 
arms,  and  retired  to  his  studies ;  so  that  his  pre- 
sent circumstances  were  not  very  different  from 
those  of  Cicero;  who,  in  all  his  letters  to  him, 
bewails,  with  great  freedom,  the  utter  ruin  of  the 
state  ;  and  proposes,  "  that  they  should  live  to- 
"gether  in  a  strict  communication  of  studies,  and 
"avoid  at  least  the  sight,  if  not  the  tongues  of 
"men;  yet  so,  that,  if  their  new  masters  should 
"call  for  their  help  tow^ards  settling  the  repub- 
"  lick,  they  should  run  with  pleasure,  and  assist, 
"  not  only  as  architects,  but  even  as  masons,   to 

*  A  quibuR  antea  delectatioiiem  modo  petebamus,  nunc  vero  etiam 
salutem.     Ep.  Fana.  9.  2. 

t  Nisi  M.  Varronein  scirem  octogesimo  octavo  vitae  anno  prodi- 
disse,  etc.     Plin.  Hist.  29.  4. 


SECT.   viii.  CICERO.  33r 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic,  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    A.  M.  Aemilius  Lepidus- 


"  build  it  up  ai^ain  ;  or,  if  no  body  would  employ 
"  them,  should  write  aiiJ  read  the  best  forms  of 
"  Sjovernment ;  and,  as  the  learned  ancients  had 
"  done  before  them,  serve  their  country,  if  not  in 
**  the  senate  and  forum,  yet  by  their  books  and 
"  studies,  and  by  composing  treatises  of  morals  and 
« laws."=^ 

In  this  retreat,  he  wrote  his  book  of  Oraiorial 
Partitions  ;  or  the  art  of  ordering  and  distributing 
the  parts  of  an  oration,  so  as  to  adapt  them  in  the 
best  manner  to  their  proper  end,  of  moving  and 
persuading  an  audience.  It  was  written  for  the 
instruction  of  his  son,  now  about  eighteen  years 
old,  but  seems  to  have  been  the  rude  draught  only 
of  what  he  intended,  or  not  to  have  been  finished 
at  least  to  his  satisfaction  ;  since  we  find  no  men- 
tion of  it  in  any  of  his  letters,  as  of  all  his  other 
pieces  which  were  prepared  for  the  publick. 

Another  fruit  of  this  leisure  w^as  his  Dialogue 
on  famom  Orators,  called  Brutus ;  in  which  he 
gives  a  short  character  of  all  who  had  ever  flour- 
ished, either  in  Greece  or  Rome,  with  any  reputa- 
tion of  eloquence,  down  to  his  own  times :  and  as 
he  generally  touches  the  principal  points  of  each 
man's  life,  so  an  attentive  reader  may  find  in  it  an 
epitome,  as  it  were,  of  the  Roman  history.  The 
conference  is  supposed  to  be  held  with  Brutus  and 
Atticus   in  Cicero's  garden  at  Rome,  under  the 

*  IVon  deesse  si  qiiis  adiiibere  volet,  non  modo  ut  architectos, 
Ternm  etiain  ut  fabros,  ad  aedificandara  Rempiib.  et  potius  lihenter 
accurere  :  si  nemo  iitetur  opera,  tainen  et  scribere  et  legere  ttoxHum; 
et  si  minus  in  curia  atqne  in  foro.  at  in  litferis  et  libris,  ut  dorlis- 
simi  veteres  fecerunt,  navare  lieinpub.  et  de  moribus  et  Jegibus  quae- 
rere.     Mihi  haec  videntur.     Ep.  Fain.  9.  2. 

VOL.  viT.  ^^ 


338  THE   LIFE   OF  sect.  vui. 

A.  Urb,  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidua. 

statue  of  Plato  f  whom  he  always  admired,  and 
usually  imitated  in  the  manner  of  his  dialogues; 
and  in  this,  seems  to  have  copied  from  him  the 
very  form  of  his  double  title;  Brutus,  or  of  fa- 
mous orators  ;  taken  from  the  speaker  and  the  sub- 
ject, as  in  Plato's  piece,  called  Phaedon,  or  of  the 
soul.  This  work  was  intended  as  a  supplement,  or  a 
fourth  book  to  the  three,  which  he  had  before  pub- 
lished, on  the  complete  orator.  But  thouiyh  it  was 
prepared  and  finished  at  this  time,  while  Cato  was 
living,  as  it  is  intimated  in  some  parts  of  it,  yet,  as 
it  appears  from  the  preface,  it  was  not  made  pub- 
lick  till  the  year  following,  after  the  death  of  his 
daughter  Tullia. 

As,  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  we  found  Cicero 
in  debt  to  Caesar,  so  we  now  meet  with  several 
hints  in  his  letters,  of  Caesar's  being  indebted  to 
him.  It  arose  probably  from  a  mortgage  that 
Cicero  had  upon  the  confiscated  estate  of  some 
Pompeian,  which  Caesar  had  seized  :  but  of  what 
kind  soever  it  was,  Cicero  was  in  pain  for  his  mo- 
ney :  '*  he  saw  but  three  ways,  he  says,  of  getting 
"  it ;  by  purchasing  the  estate  at  Caesar's  auction ; 
"  or  taking  an  assignment  on  the  purchaser ;  or 
"  compounding  for  half  with  the  brokers  or  money 
"jobbers  of  those  times;  who  would  advance  the 
"  money  on  those  terms.  The  first  he  declares  to 
"  be  base,  and  that  he  would  rather  loose  his  debt, 
"  than  touch  any  thing  confiscated  :  the  second  he 
"  thoui^ht  hazardous  ;;  and  that  nobody  would  pay 
"  any  thing  in  such  uncertain    times :    the    third 


*  Cum  idem  placnisset  illis,  turn  in  pratiilo,  propter  Platonis  sta- 
tuamconsedimus — Brut.  28. 


SECT.  viif.  CICERO.  ij39 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.     Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.     M.  Aeniilius  Lepidus. 

''he  liked  the  best,  but  desires   Atticus's  advice 
"  upon  it.^ 

He  now  at  last  parted  with  his  wife  Terentia, 
whose  humour  and  conduct  had  long  been  uneasy 
to  him  :  this  drew  upon  him  some  censure ;  for 
putting  away  a  wife,  who  had  lived  with  him 
above  thirty  years,  the  faithful  partner  of  his  bed 
and  fortunes  ;  and  the  mother  of  two  children,  ex- 
tremely dear  to  him.  But  she  was  a  woman  of 
an  imperious  and  turbulent  spirit;  expensive  and 
negligent  in  her  private  afiairs ;  busy  and  intriij;u- 
ing  in  the  publick  ;  and,  in  the  height  of  her  hus- 
bands's  power,  seems  to  have  had  the  chief  harid 
in  the  distribution  of  all  his  favours.  He  had  easi- 
ly borne  her  perverseness  in  the  vigour  of  health, 
and  the  flourishing  state  of  his  fortunes ;  but  in  a 
declining  life,  soured  by  a  continual  succession  of 
mortifications  from  abroad,  the  want  of  ease  and 
quiet  at  home  was  no  longer  tolerable  to  him  :  the 
divorce  however  was  not  likely  to  cure  the  difficul- 
ties in  which  her  management  had  involved  him  : 
for  she  had  brought  him  a  great  fortune,  which  was 
all  to  be  restored  to  her  at  parting :  this  made  a 
second  marriage  necessary,  in  order  to  repair 
the  ill  state  of  his  affairs  ;  and  his  friends  of  both 
sexes,  were  busy  in  providing  a  fit  match  for  him. 
Several  parties  were  proposed  to  him,  and  among 
others,  a  daughter  of  Pompey  the  Great  :  for 
whom  he  seems  to  have  had  an  inclination  :  but  a 
prudential  regard  to  the  times,  and  the  envy  and 
ruin  under  which  that  family  then  lay,  induced 


*  Nomen  illud,  quod  a  Caesare,  tres  habet  conditiones ;  aut  era- 
tionein  ab  hasta ;  (perderc  lualo  : — )  aut  delegationem  a  mancipe,  an- 
nua die;  (quis  erit.  oui  credarn  ?) — aut  vecteni  conditiouem,  semisse, 
<rx4su  igitur.     Ad  Att.  12.  3. 


340  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  viii. 


A.  Urb.  70T.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


Ihetn  probably  to  drop  it.*  What  gave  his  ene- 
mies the  greater  handle  to  rally  him  was,  his  mar- 
rying a  handsome  young  woman,  named  Publilia, 
of  an  age  disproportionate  to  his  own,  to  whom 
he  was  guardian  :  but  she  was  well  allied,  and 
rich  ;  circumstances  very  convenient  to  him  at  this 
time  :  as  he  intimates  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  who 
congratulated  with  him  on  his  marriage. 

"  As  to  your  giving  me  joy,"  says  he,  "  for 
"  what  I  have  done,  I  know  you  wish  it :  but  I 
"  should  not  have  taken  any  new  step  in  such 
"  wretched  times,  if,  at  my  return,  I  had  not  found 
"my  private  affairs  in  no  better  condition  than 
"  those  of  the  republick.  For  when,  through  the 
"  wickedness  of  those,  who,  for  my  infinite  kind- 
"  ness  to  them,  oug^ht  to  have  had  the  greatest  con- 
"cern  for  my  welfare,  I  found  no  safety  or  ease 
"from  their  intri<{ues  and  perfidy  within  my  own 
"walls,  I  thought  it  necessary  to  secure  myself  by 
"  the  fidelity  of  new  alliances  against  the  treache- 
"ry  of  the  old."t 

_     _  '.  _ 

*  De  Pompeii  Magni  filia  tibi  rescripsi,  nihil  me  hoc  tempore  cogi- 
tare.  Alteram  vero  ijlam,  quam  tu  scribis,  puto  nosti.  Nihil  vidi 
foedius— lb.  12.  11. 

t  Ep.  Fam.  4    14. 

In  cases  of  divorce,  where  tiiere  were  children,  it  was  the  custom 
for  each  party  to  make  a  settlement  by  will  on  their  common  off- 
spring;, proportionable  to  their  sev'eral  estates  :  which  is  the  mean- 
ing of  Cicoro's  pressing  Atticns  so  often,  in  his  letters,  to  put  Tereutia 
in  mind  of  making  her  will,  and  depositing  it  in  safe  hands.  Ad  Att. 
xi.  21,  22,  24.  xii.  18.  ; 

Terentia  is  said  to  have  lived  to  the  age  of  an  hundred  and  three 
years  :  [Val.  M.  8.  18.  Plin.  Hist.  7.  48.]  and  took,  as  St.  Jerome  says, 
for  her  second  husband,  Cicero's  enemy.  Sal  lust  ;  and  .Vlessala  for  her 
third.  Dio  Cassins  gives  her  a  fourth.  Vibius  llufus  ;  who  was  consul 
in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  and  valued  himself  for  the  possession  of  two 
things,  which  had  bf'longed  to  the  two  greatest  men  of  the  age  before 
him,  Cicern's  w>fe.  and  Caesar'' f;  chair,  in  which  he  was  killed.  Dio.  p. 
612.  Hieron.  Op.  To.  4.  par.  2.  p.  190. 


SECT,  VIII.  CICERO.  311 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Juliiis  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

Caesar  returned  victorious  from  Africk,  about  the 
end  of  July,  by  the  way  of  Sardinia,  where  he  spent 
some  days  :  upon  which  Cicero  says,  pleasantly,  in  a 
letter  to  Varro,  he  had  never  seen  that  farm  of  his 
before,  which,  thouo:h  one  of  the  worst  that  he  has, 
he  does  not  yet  despise.^  The  uncertain  event  of  the 
African  war  had  kept  the  senate  under  some  re- 
serve ;  but  they  now  began  to  push  their  flattery 
beyond  all  the  bounds  of  decency,  and  decreed 
more  extravagant  honours  to  Caesar,  than  were 
ever  given  before  to  man  ;  w^hich  Cicero  oft  rallies 
with  great  spirit ;  and  being  determined  to  bear  no 
part  in  that  servile  adulation,  was  treating  about 
the  purchase  of  a  house  at  Naples,  for  a  pretence 
of  retiring  still  farther  and  oftener  from  Rome. 
But  his  friends,  who  knew  his  impatience  under 
their  present  subjection,  and  the  free  way  of  speak- 
ing which  he  was  apt  to  indulge,  were  in  some 
pain,  lest  he  should  forfeit  the  good  graces  of  Cae- 
sar and  his  favourites,  and  provoke  them  too  far 
by  the  keenness  of  his  raillery. f  They  pressed  him 


*  Illiid  enim  adhuc  praediiim  smira  non  inspexit  :  nee  ullum  habet 
deteriiis,  sed  tamen  non  conlemnit.     Kp.  Fain.  9.  7. 

f  Some  of  his  jests  on  Caesar's  administration  are  still  preserved  ; 
which  shew,  that  his  friends  had  reason  enough  to  admonish  him  to 
be  more  upon  his  guard.  Caesar  had  advanced  Laberius,  a  cele- 
brated mimick  actor,  to  the  order  of  knights;  but  when  he  stept 
from  the  stage  into  the  theatre,  to  take  his  place  on  the  equestrian 
benches,  none  '  f  the  knights  would  admit  him  to  a  seat  ainong  them. 
As  he  was  marching  off,  therefore,  with  disgrace,  happening  to  pass 
near  Cicero,  *' I  would  make  roou)  for  you  here,"  says  Cicero,  "on 
our  b'.-nch,  if  we  were  not  already  too  much  crowded;"  alluding  to 
Caesar's  tilling  up  the  senate  aI«o  with  the  scum  of  his  creatures,  and 
even  with  strangers  and  barbarians.  At  another  time,  being  desired 
by  a  friend,  in  a  publick  company,  to  procure  for  his  son  the  rank  of 
a  senator  in  one  of  the  corporate  towns  of  Italy,  "  he  shall  have  it," 
says  he,  "  if  you  please,  at  Rome;  but  it  will  he  difficult  at  Pompeii." 
An  acquaintance,  likewise,  from  Laodicea,  coming  to  pay  his  respects 
to  him,  and  being  asked  what  business  had  brought  him  to  Home,  said. 


342  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 


A.  Urb.  707.     Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


to  accommodate  himself  to  the  times,  and  to  use 
more  caution  in  his  discourse,  and  to  reside  more 
at  Rome,  especially  when  Caesar  was  there,  who 
would  interpret  the  distance  and  retreat  which  he 
affected,  as  a  proof  of  his  aversion  to  him. 

But  his  answers  on  this  occasion  will  show  the 
real  state  of  his  sentiments  and  conduct  towards 
Caesar,  as  well  as  of  Caesar's  towards  him :  writing 
on  this  subject  to  Papirius  Paetus,  he  says,  '*  \  ou 
"  are  of  opinion,  I  perceive,  that  it  will  not  be  al- 
"  lowed  to  me,  as  I  thought  it  might  be,  to  quit 
"  these  affairs  of  the  city  :  you  tell  me  of  Catulus, 
*'  and  those  times ;  but  what  similitude  have  they 
"  to  these  ?  I  myself  was  unwilling  at  that  time  to 
*'  stir  from  the  guard  of  the  state ;  for  I  then  sat  at 
"  the  helm,  and  held  the  rudder ;  but  am  now  scarce 
"  thought  worthy  to  work  at  the  pump  :  would  the 
"  senate,  think  you,  pass  fewer  decrees,  if  I  should 
"  live  at  Naples  ?  while  I  am  still  at  Rome,  and 
"  attend  the  forum,  their  decrees  are  all  drawn 
"  at  our  friend's  house ;  and  whenever  it  comes 
*'  into  his  heac^  my  name  is  set  down,  as  if  pre- 
"  sent  at  drawing  them  ;  so  that  I  hear  from  Ar- 
'*  menia  and  Syria  of  decrees  said  to  be  made  at 
"  my  motion,  of  which  I  had  never  heard  a  syl- 
''  lable  at  home.  Do  not  take  me  to  be  in  jest ; 
''  for  I  assure  you,  that  I  have  received  letters 
"  from  kings,  from  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth, 
"to  thank  me  for  giving  them  the  title  of  king; 
"  when,  so  far  from  knowing  that  any  such  title 

that  he  was  sent  upoo  an  embassy  to  Caesar,  to  intercede  with  him 
lor  the  liberty  of  his  country ;  upon  which  Cicero  replied,  "  If  you 
succeed,  you  shall  bean  ambassadour  also  for  us,"  Macrob.  Saturn.  2. 
.3.  Sueton.    e.  76. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  343 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.-C.  Juljug  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  I^pidus. 

''had  been  decreed  to  them,  I  knew  not  even 
"  that  there  were  any  such  men  in  being.  What 
"  is  then  to  be  done  ?  why,  as  lonor  as  our  master 
''of  manners  continues  here,  I  will  follow  your 
"  advice  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  is  gone,  I  will  run  away 
"  to  your  mushrooms,"  &;c.* 

In  another  letter ;  *'  Since  you  express,"  says  he, 
''  such  a  concern  for  me  in  your  last,  be  assured' 
''  my  dear  Paetus,  that  whatever  can  be  done  bv 
"  art,  (for  it  is  not  enough  to  act  with  prudence, 
"some  artifice  also  must  now  be  employed)  yet 
"  whatever,  I  say,  can  be  done  by  art,  towards  ac- 
''  quiring  their  good  graces,  I  have  already  done  it 
"  with  the  greatest  care ;  nor,  as  1  believe,  with- 
'*  out  success ;  for  I  am  so  much  courted  by  all  who 
I'  are  in  any  degree  of  favour  with  Caesar,  that  I 
I*  begin  to  fancy  that  they  love  me  ;  and  thoucrh 
"real  love  is  not  easily  distinguished  from  false, 
"  except  in  the  case  of  danger,  by  which  the  sin- 
*'  cerity  of  it  may  be  tried,  as  of  gold  by  fire  ;  for 
''  all  other  marks  are  common  to  both;  yei  I  have 
"  one  argument  to  persuade  me  that  they  really 
I'  love  me,  because  both  my  condition  and  theirs  is 
**  such,  as  puts  them  under  no  temptation  to  dis- 
'  semble  :  and  as  for  him  who  has  all  power,  J  see 
I'  no  reason  to  fear  any  thing ;  unless  that  all  things 
"  become  of  course  uncertain,  when  justice  and 
"  right  are  once  deserted :  nor  can  we  be  sure  of 
"  any  thing  that  depends  on  the  will,  not  to  say  the 
"  passion,  of  another.  Yet  I  have  not  in  any  in- 
"  stance   particularly  offended  him,   but  behaved 

*  Ep.  Fain.  9.  15.  Praefeclus  morum,  or  master  of  the  publick 
manners,  was  one  nf  the  new  titles  whivh  the  senate  bad  decreed  to 
Caesar. 


344  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  viii 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  IIL    M.  Aeniilius  Lepidus. 

'*  myself  all  along  with  the  greatest  moderation  : 
*'  for,  as  once  I  took  it  to  be  my  duty  to  speak  my 
"  mind  freely  in  that  city,  which  owed  its  freedom 
*'  to  me,  so  now,  since  that  is  lost,  to  speak  nothing 
*'  that  may  offend  him,  or  his  principal  friends.  But 
''if  I  would  avoid  all  offence,  of  things  said  face- 
*'  tiously  or  by  way  of  raillery,  I  must  give  up  all 
*•  reputation  of  wit ;  which  I  would  not  refuse  to  do, 
''if  I  could.  But  as  to  Caesar  himself,  he  has  a 
**  very  piercing  judgment :  and  as  your  brother  Ser- 
*^  vius,  whom  I  take  to  have  been  an  excellent  cri- 
**  tick,  would  readily  say,  *  this  verse  is  not  Plau- 
**  tus's,  that  verse  is ;'  having  formed  his  ears  by 
*'  great  use,  to  distinguish  the  peculiar  style  and 
"  manner  of  different  poets  ;  so  Caesar,  I  hear,  who 
''  has  already  collected  some  volumes  of  apoph- 
*'  thegms,  if  any  thing  be  brought  to  him  for  mine, 
'*  which  is  not  so,  presently  rejects  it :  which  he 
*^  now  does  the  more  easily,  because  his  friends 
''  live  almost  continually  w  ith  me  ;  and  in  the  varie- 
"  ty  of  discourse,  when  any  thing  drops  from  me, 
"'  which  they  take  to  have  some  humour  or  spirit  in 
''  it,  they  ^carry  it  always  to  him,  with  the  other 
*'  news  of  the  town,  for  such  are  his  orders  :  so  that 
**  if  he  hears  any  thing  besides  of  mine  from  other 
"  persons,  be  does  not  reiiard  it.  1  have  no  occa- 
'*sion,  therefore,  for  your  example  of  Oenomaus, 
"  though  aptly  applied  from  Accius :  for  what  is 
"the  envy  which  you  speak  of?  or  what  is  there 
"  in  me  to  be  envied  now  ;  but  suppose  there  was 
"everything:  it  has;  been  the  constant  opinion  of 
"  philosophers,  the  only  men,  in  my  judgment,  who 
"have  a  right  notion  of  virtue,  that  a  wise  man  has 
'*  nothing  more  to  answer  for,  than  to  keep  himself 
"  free   from  guilt  ;  of  which  I   take  myself  to  be 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  346 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.  Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepiduj. 


"clear,  on  a  double  account;  because  I  both  pur- 
*'  sued  those  measures,  which  wliere  the  justest :  and 
^*  when  I  saw  that  I  had  not  strength  enough  to 
"  carry  them,  did  not  think  it  my  business  to  con« 
"  tend  by  force  with  those  who  were  too  strong  for 
"me.  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  I  cannot  be 
"  blamed,  ifi  what  concerns  the  part  of  a  good  citi- 
"zen  :  all  that  is  now  left,  is,  not  to  say  or  do  any 
"thing  foolishly  rashly  against  the  men  in  pow^- 
^•er;  which  I  take  also  to  be  the  part  of  a  wise 
"  man.  As  for  tlie  rest,  what  people  may  report  to 
"  be  said  by  me,  or  how  he  may  take  it,  or  with 
"what  sincerity  those  live  with  me,  who  now  so 
*'  assiduously  court  me,  it  is  not  in  my  power  to 
"  answer.  I  comfort  myself,  therefore,  with  the 
"consciousness  of  my  former  conduct,  and  the 
"moderation  of  my  present;  and  shall  apply  your 
"similitude  from  Accius,  not  only  to  the  case  of 
"envy,  but  of  fortune;  which  I  consider  as  light 
"  and  weak,  and  what  ought  to  be  repelled  by  a  firm 
"  and  great  mind,  as  waves  by  a  rock.  For  since 
*'the  Greek  history  is  full  of  examples,  how  the 
"  wisest  men  have  endured  tyrannies  at  Athens  or 
"Syracuse;  and,  when  their  cities  were  enslaved, 
"  have  lived  themselves  in  some  measure  free ;  why 
"  may  not  I  think  it  possible  to  maintain  my  rank 
"so,  as  neither  to  otTend  the  mind  of  any,  nor  hurt 
"  my  own  dignity  ? — &c."^ 

Paetus  having  heard,  that  Caesar  was  going  to 
divide  some  lands  in  his  neighbourhood  to  the  sol- 
diers, began  to  be  afraid  for  his  own  estate,  and 
writes  to  Cicero,  to  know  how  far  that  distribution 

*  Ep.  Fam.  9.  16. 

VOL.  ir.  44 


;346  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vm 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  IIL    M.  AemUius  Lepidus. 


would  extend  :  to  which  Cicero  answers :  "  Are  not  • 
"you  a  pleasant  fellow,  who,  when  Balbus  has  just 
"  been  with  you,  ask  me  what  will  become  of  those 
"towns  and  their  lands?  as  if  eUher  I  knew  any 
"  tiling,  that  Balbus  does  not ;  or  if,  at  any  time  I 
**  chance  to  know  any  thing,  I  do  not  know  it  from 
**  him :  nay,  it  is  your  part  rather,  if  you  love  me, 
"  to  let  me  know  what  will  become  of  me  :  for  you 
**  had  it  in  your  power  to  have  learnt  it  from  him, 
"  either  sober,  or  at  least  when  drunk.  But  as  for 
"  me,  my  dear  Paetus,  I  have  done  inquiring  about 
"  those  things :  first,  because  we  have  already  lived 
"  near  four  years,  by  clear  gain,  as  it  were  :  if  that 
"  can  be  called  gain,  or  this  life,  to  outlive  the  re- 
"  publick  :  secondly,  because  1  myself  seem  to 
"  know  what  will  happen  ;  for  it  will  be  whatever 
"  pleases  the  strongest ;  which  must  always  be  de- 
"  cided  by  arms  :  it  is  our  part,  therefore,  to  be  con- 
"  tent  with  what  is  allowed  to  ua  :  he  who  cannot 
"  submit  to  this,  ought  to  have  chosen  death.  They 
*'are  now  measuring  the  fields  of  Yeiae  and  Ca- 
**  penae  :  this  is  not  far  from  Tusculum  :  yet  I  fear 
"nothing :  I  enjoy  it  whilst  1  may;  wish  that  I  al- 
"  ways  may  ;  hut  if  it  should  happen  otherwise,  yet 
*'  since,  with  all  my  courage  and  philosophy,  1  have 
"  thought  it  best  to  live,  1  cannot  but  have  an  af- 
"  fection  for  him  by  whose  benefit  I  hold  that  life  : 
"  who,  if  he  has  an  inclination  to  restore  the  re- 
"  publick,  as  he  himself,  perhaps,  may  desire,  and 
*'  we  all  ought  to  wish,  y  et  he  has  linked  himself  so 
"  with  others,  that  he  has  not  the  powei*  to  do  what 
"he  w^ould.  But  I'  proceed  too  far;  for  I  am 
"  writing  to  you :  be  assured,  however,  of  this,  that 
"  not  only  I,  who  have  no  part  in  their  counsels, 
"  but  even  the  chief  himself^  does  not  know  what 


-ECT.  vMi.  CICERO.  347 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julias  Caesar  IIL    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


*'  will  happen.  We  are  slaves  to  him,  he  to  the 
"  times :  so  neither  can  he  know,  what  the  times 
"  will  require,  nor  we,  what  he  may  intend,  &c."* 

The  chiefs  of  the  Caesarian  party,  who  courted 
Cicero  so  much  at  this  time,  were  Balbus,  Oppius, 
Matius,  Pansa,  Hirtius,  Dolabella  :  they  were  all 
in  the  first  confidence  with  Caesar,  yet  professed 
the  utmost  affection  for  Cicero ;  were  every  morn- 
ing at  his  levee,  and  perpetually  engaginii;  him  to 
sup  with  them;  and  the  two  last  employed  them- 
selves in  a  daily  exercise  of  declaimin<^  at  his  house, 
for  the  benefit  of  his  instruction  ;  of  which  he  gives 
the  followino;  account  in  liis  familiar  way  to  Pae- 
tus :  "  Hirtius  and  Dolabella  are  my  scholars  in 
''  speaking ;  my  masters  in  eating :  for  you  have 
"heard,  I  guess,  how  they  declaim  with  me,  I  sup 
'*  with  them."  In  another  letter,  he  tells  him, 
"  that  as  king  Dion>sius,  when  driven  out  of  Syra- 
"  cuse,  turned  schoolmaster  at  Corinth,  so  he,  hav- 
"ing  lost  his  kingdom  of  the  forum,  had  now  open- 
"  ed  a  school — to  which  he  merrily  invites  Paetus, 
*'  with  the  offer  of  a  seat  and  cushion  next  to  him- 
"  self,  as  his  usher."t  But  to  Yarro  more  serious- 
ly, "  I  acquainted  you,"  says  he, ''  before,  that  I  am 
''  intimate  with  them  all,  and  assist  at  their  coun- 
'*  sels  :  I  see  no  reason  why  I  should  not — for  it  is 
"  not  the  same  thing  to  bear  what  must  be  borne,  and 

*Ep.  Fam.  9.  17. 

f  Hlrtiuin  eso  et  Dolabellam  diceiidi  discipulos  Iiaheo,  coenandi 
inajiistros :  pnto  cniiii  te  audisse — illos  apud  me  declainitare,  me 
apiid  eos  cnenilare.     lb.  16. 

rt  Dioiiysiiis  tyrannus.  cum  Syraciisis  pulsus  esset,  Corinthi  dicitur 
luduin  aperuisso,  sic  ego -amisso  rei^no  forensi,  ludnm  quasi  habere 
coepeiim— sella  tibi  crit  in  ludo,  taiiquara  hypodidasculo,  proxima : 
cam  pulviDUS  soquetur.     lb.  18. 


34S  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  vin< 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  (Jl.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar.  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


**fo  approve  what  ought  not  to  be  approved." 
And  again :  "I  do  not  forbear  to  sup  with  those 
"  who  now  rule :  what  can  I  do  ?  we  must  com- 
''  ply  with  the  times."^ 

The  only  use  which  he  made  of  all  this  favour 
was,  to  screen  himself  from  any  particular  calami- 
ty in  the  general  misery  of  the  times  ;  and  to  serve 
those  unhappy  men,  who  were  driven  from  their 
country  and  their  families,  for  their  acfherence  to 
that  cause  which  he  himself  had  espoused.  Caesar 
was  desirous  indeed  to  engao:e  him  in  his  measures, 
and  attach  him  insensibly  to  his  interests  :  hut  he 
would  bear  no  part  in  an  administration  establish- 
ed on  the  ruins  of  his  country  ;  nor  ever  cared  to 
be  acquainted  with  their  affairs,  or  to  inquire  what 
they  were  doing :  so  that,  whenever  he  eiitered  in- 
to their  councils,  as  he  signifies  above  to  Vano,  it 
was  only  when  the  case  of  some  exiled  friend  re- 
quired it ;  for  whose  service  he  scrupled  no  pains 
of  soliciting,  and  attending  even  Caesar  himself; 
though  he  was  sometimes  shocked,  as  he  com- 
plains, by  the  difficulty  of  access,  and  the  indig- 
nity of  waHin^  in  an  antichamber ;  not,  indeed, 
through  Caesar's  fault,  who  was  always  ready  to 
give  him  audience  ;  but,  from  the  multiplicity  of 
his  affairs  by  whose  hands  all  the  favours  of  the 
empire  were  dispensed.!     Thus,  in  a  letter  to  Am- 


*  Ostentavi  tibi,  me  istis  esse  familiarem,  et  consiliis  eonini  inter- 
esse.  Quod  ego  cur  nolirn  nihil  video.  x\on  enira  est  idem,  ferre  si 
quid  ferendum  est,  probare,  si  quid  probandum  non  est.      lb.  6. 

Non  desino  apud  istos,  qui  nunc  dominantur,  coenitare.  Quid  fa- 
ciam  ?  tempori  serviendum  est.     lb.  7. 

f  Quod  si  tardius  fit  quara  volumus,  magnis  occupationibus  ejus  a 
quo  omnia  petuntur,  aditus  a,d  eum  difficiliores  fuerunt.  Ep.  Fanio 
6.  13, 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  349 


A.  Urb.  707,    Cic  61.     Coss.— C  Julius  Caesar   III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

piijs,  whose  pardon  he  iiad  procured, — **  I  have 
"  solicited  your  cause,"  says  he,  "  more  ea<j;erly 
*' than  my  present  situation  would  well  justify: 
"  for  my  desire  to  see  you,  and  my  constant  love 
"for  you,  most  as^i'^iuously  cultivated  on  your 
"  part,  overruled  all  resi;aid  to  the  present  weak 
'*  condition  of  my  power  and  interest.  Every 
"  thinoj  that  relates  to  your  return  and  safety  is 
"  promised,  confirmed,  fixed,  and  ratified :  I  saw, 
"  knew%  was  present  at  every  step :  for,  by  ofood 
'*  luck,  I  have  all  Caesar's  friends  en^^a^y^ed  to  me 
"by  an  old  acquaintance  and  friendship:  so  that, 
"  next  to  him,  they  pay  the  first  regard  to  me : 
"  Pansa,  Hirtius,  Balbus,  Oppius,  Matius,  Postu- 
"  mius,  take  all  occasions  to  ^ive  me  proof  of  their 
"  sinjrular  affection.  If  this  had  been  sought  and 
"  procured  by  me,  I  should  have  no  reason,  as 
"  thincrs  now  stand,  to  repent  of  my  pains :  but  I 
"  have  done  nothino-  with  the  view  of  servins;  the 
"  times ;  I  had  an  intimacy  of  Ions;  standing  with  them 
"  all ;  and  never  gave  over  soliciting  them  on  your 
'' behalf :  I  found  Pansa,  however,  tlie  readiest  of 
''them  all  to  serve  you,  and  oblio;e  me  ;  who  has 
"  not  only  an  interest,  but  authority  with  Caesar,"* 
Sic, 

But,  while  he  was  thus  caressed  by  Caesar's 
friends,  he  was  not  less  followed,  we  may  imagine, 
by  the  friends  of  the  republick :  these  had  always 
looked  upon  him  as  the  chief  patron  of  tlieir  li[>er- 
ty  ;  whose  counsels,  if  they  had  been  followed, 
would  have  preserved  it;  and  whose  authoiity 
gave  them  the  only  hopes  that  were  left,  of  re- 

*  Ibid.  6.  12. 


350  THE  LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Jolius  Caesar  UL    M.  Aemilius  L^idm. 


covering  it :  so  that  his  house  was  as  much  fre- 
quented, and  his  levee  as  much  crowded,  as  ever ; 
"  since  people  now  flocked,"  says  he,  "  to  see  a 
*'  good  citizen,  as  a  sort  of  rarity."^  In  another 
letter,  giving  a  short  account  of  his  way  of  life, 
he  says,  "  Early  in  the  morning,  I  receive  the  com- 
"  pliments  of  many  honest  men,  but  melancholy 
"  ones ;  as  well  as  of  these  gay  conquerors ;  who 
"  shew  indeed  a  very  officious  and  affectionate 
"  regard  to  me.  When  these  visits  are  over,  I  shut 
"  myself  up  in  my  library,  either  to  write  or  read  : 
"  Here  some  also  come  to  hear  me,  as  a  man  of 
."  learning ;  because  I  am  somewhat  more  learned 
"  than  they  :  the  rest  of  my  time  I  give  to  the  care 
"  of  my  body  :  for  I  have  now  bewailed  my  coun- 
"  try  longer  and  more  heavily,  than  any  mother 
"  ever  bewailed  her  only  son."t 

It  is  certain,  that  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  re- 
publi'ck  so  particularly  engaged,  both  by  principle 
and  interest,  to  wish  well  to  its  liberty,  or  who  had 
so  much  to  lose  by  the  subversion  of  it  as  he  :  for 
as  long  as  it  was  governed  by  civil  methods,  and 
stood  upon  tlie  foundation  of  its  laws,  he  was  un- 
doubtedly the  first  citizen  in  it ;  had  the  chief  in- 
fluence in  the  senate ;  the  chief  authority  with  the 

*  Cum  salutation!  nos  dedimus  amicorura  ;  quae  fit  hoc  etiam  fre- 
quentius,  quara  solebat,  quod  quasi  avem  albam,  videntur  bene  sen- 
tientem  civeni  videie.  abdo  me  in  Bibliothecam.     lb.  7.  28. 

t  HiBc  igitur  est  nunc  vita  nostra.  Mane  salutamus  domi  et  bonos 
viros  multos,  sed  tristes,  et  hos;laetos  victores ;  qui  me  quidem  per- 
officiose  et  peramanter  observant.  IJbi  salutatio  defluxit,  litterisl  me 
involvo.  aut  scribo  aut  lego.  Veniuni  etiam  qui  me  audiunt,  quasi 
doctum  hominem,  quia  paullo  sum,  quam  ipsi,  doctior.  Inde  corpori 
omue  tenapus  datur.  Patriam  eluxi  jam  gravius  et  diutius  quam  ulla 
mater  unicum  filium.     Ep.  Fam.  9.  20. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  351 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

people  :  and,  as  all  his  hopes  and  fortunes  were 
grounded  on  the  peace  of  his  country,  so  all  his 
labours  and  studies  were  perpetually  applied  to  the 
promotion  of  it :  it  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  in  the 
present  situation  of  the  city,  oppressed  by  arms, 
and  a  tyrannical  power,  to  find  him  so  particularly 
impatient  under  the  common  misery,  and  expres- 
sing so  keen  a  sense  of  the  diminution  of  his  dig- 
nity, and  the  disgrace  of  serving,  where  he  had 
been  used  to  govern. 

Caesar,  on  the  other  hand,  though  he  knew  his 
temper  and  principles  to  be  irreconcileable  to  his 
usurped  dominion,  yet,  out  of  fiiendship  to  the  man, 
and  a  reverence  for  his  character,  was  determined 
to  treat  him  with  the  greatest  humanity :  and,  by 
all  the  marks  of  personal  favour,  to  make  his  life 
not  only  tolerable,  but  easy  to  him  :  yet  all  that 
he  could  do  had  no  other  effect  on  Cicero,  than  to 
make  him  think  and  speak  sometimes  favourably 
of  the  natural  clemency  of  their  master ;  and  to 
entertain  some  hopes  from  it,  that  he  would  one 
day  be  persuaded  to  restore  the  publick  liberty  : 
but,  exclusive  of  that  hope,  he  never  mentions  his 
government  but  as  a  real  tyranny  ;  or  his  person  in 
any  other  style,  than  as  the  oppressor  of  his  coun- 
try. 

But  he  gave  a  remarkable  proof  at  this  time  of 
his  being  no  temporiser,  by  writing  a  book  in  praise 
of  Cato  ;  which  he  published  within  a  few  months 
after  Cato's  death.  He  seems  to  have  been  left  a 
guardian  to  Cato's  son ;  as  he  was  also  to  young 
Luculhis,  Cato's  nephew:*  and  this  testimony  of 

*  Ad  Att.  13.  6.     De  Finib.  3.2 


352  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.    vni. 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.  Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar    III.    M.  Aemilius  Lcpidus. 


Cato's  friendship  and  judi^ment  of  him,  might  in- 
duce him  the  more  readily  to  pay  this  lionour  to 
his  memory.  It  was  a  matter  however  of  no  small 
deliberation,  in  what  manner  he  ought  to  treat  the 
su]>ject :  his  friends  a  'vised  him,  not  to  be  too  ex- 
plicit and  particular,  in  the  detail  of  Cato's  prais- 
es;  but  to  content  himself  with  a  general  enco- 
mium, for  fear  of  irritating  Caesar,  by  pushing 
the  ariiument  too  far.  In  a  letter  to  Atticus,  he 
calls  this,  "  an  Archimedean  problem  ;  but  I  can- 
"  not  hit  upon  any  thing,  (says  he.)  that  those 
*'  friends  of  yours  will  read  with  pleasure,  or  even 
"'  with  patience ;  besides,  if  I  should  drop  the  ac- 
''  count  of  Cato's  votes  and  speeches  in  the  senate, 
"  and  of  his  political  conduct  in  the  state,  and 
"  give  a  slight  commendation  only  of  his  constan- 
"  cy  and  gravity,  even  this  may  be  more  than 
*'  they  will  care  to  hear :  but  tiie  man  cannot  be 
"praised,  as  he  deseives,  unless  it  be  paiticularly 
"  explained  how  he  foretold  all  that  has  happened 
"  to  us ;  how  he  took  arms  to  prevent  its  happen- 
"  ing: ;  and  parted  with  life  rather  than  see  it  hap- 
"  pen."*  These  were  the  topicks,  which  he  re- 
solved to  display  with  all  his  force ;  and,  from  the 
accounts  given  of  the  work  by  antiquity,  it  ap- 
pears that  he  had  spared  no  pains  to  adorn  it,  but 
extolled  Cato's  virtue  and  character  to  the  skies.f 


*  Sed  de  Catone  v^-&Kyf/uiet  ct^^ifAnSew  est.  Pvon  asseqnor  utsrribara, 
quod  tui  convivac  hod  niodo  libeiiier,  sed  etiam  aequo  aiiiino  legere 
po^'«int.  Qiiin  etiam  si  a  sententiis  ejus  dictis,  si  ab  omni  voluntate, 
consiliisqut^  quae  de  Rf  pub  |iabuit.  recedam  ;  -^tkag  que  velim  gra- 
vila'ein  consiautiamque  ejus  faudare.  hoc  ipsura  !tK'.v(r/uci  sit  ^ed  ve- 
re  laudari  il!e  vir  non  potpsi,  nisi  haec  ornata  sunt,  quod  ilJe  ea, 
q'lae  nunc  sunt,  et  Tulura  viderit,  el  ne  Herent  conieuderit,  et  facta 
ne  videret.  viram  reliquerit.     Ad  Att.  12.  4. 

i  M.  Ciceronis  libro,  quo  Catonein  coelo  aequavit,  etc.  Tacit* 
Ann.  4.  34. 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  353 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic,  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    A.  M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


The  book  was  soon  spread  into  all  hands ;  and 
Caesar,  instead  of  expressing  any  resentment,  af- 
fected to  be  much  ])leased  witli  it ;  yet  declared 
that  he  would  answer  it :  and  Hirtius,  in  the  mean 
while,  drew  up  a  little  piece  in  the  form  of  a  let- 
ter to  Cicero,  filled  with  objections  to  Cato's  cha- 
racter, but  Avith  high  compliments  to  Cicero  himself ; 
which  Cicero  took  care  to  make  publick,  and  calls 
it  a  specimen  of  what  Caesar's  work  was  like  to 
be.^  Brutus  also  composed  and  published  a  piece 
on  the  same  subject ;  as  well  as  another  friend  of 
Cicero,  Fabius  Gallus  if  but  these  were  but  little 
considered  in  comparison  of  Cicero's :  and  Brutus 
had  made  some  mistakes  in  his  account  of  the 
transactions,  in  which  Cato  had  been  concerned ; 
especially  in  the  debates  on  Catiline's  plot ;  in 
which  he  had  given  him  the  first  part  and  merit,  in 
derogation  even  of  Cicero  himself.J 

Caesar's  answer  was  not  published  till  the  next  year, 
upon  his  return  from  Spain;  after  the  defeat  of  Pom- 
pey's  sons.  It  was  a  laboured  invective  :  answer- 
ing Cicero's  book,  paragraph  by  paragraph,  and  ac- 

*  Qnalis  fiitiira  sit  Caesaris  vituperatio  contra  laudationem  raeam 
perspexi  ex  eolibro,  qiiein  Hirtius  ad  me  misit,  in  quo  colIi2;it  vitia 
Catonis,  sed  cum  inaximis  laudibus  meis.  Itaqne  misi  librum  ad  Mns- 
cara,  lit  tuis  librariis  daret.  Volo  eum  divulgari,  etc.  Ad  Att.  12, 
40.  it.  41. 

f  Catonem  timm  mihi  mitte.  Cupio  enim  legere.  Ep.  Vann.  7. 
24. 

I  Catonem  primum  sententiam  putat  de  animadversionc  dixisse, 
quam  oranos  ante  dixerant  praeter  Caesarem,  etc. Ad  Att.  12  21. 

From  tbis  and  other  particulars,  which  are  mentioned  in  the  same 
letter,  we  may  observe,  that  Salhist  had  probably  taken  his  account 
of  the  debates  upon  Catiline's  Accomplices,  from  Brvtvs's  Lifr  of 
Cato,  and  chosen  to  copy  even  his  mistakes,  rather  than  do  justice  to 
Cicero  on  that  occasion. 

VOL.    IT.  4.5 


354  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  viii 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.—C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


cusing  Cato  with  all  the  art  and  force  of  his  rheto- 
rick,  as  if  in  a  publick  trial  before  jucjcres  ;^  yet 
with  expressions  of  great  respect  towards  Cicero ; 
whom,  for  his  virtues  and  abilities,  he  compared  to 
Pericles  and  Theramenes  of  Athens  :t  and,  in  a 
letter  upon  it  to  Balbus,  which  w^as  shewn  by  his 
order,  to  Cicero,  he  said,  that,  by  the  frequent 
reading  of  Cicero's  Cato,  he  was  grown  more  co- 
pious; but,  after  he  had  read  Brutus's,  thought 
hi:nself  even  eloquent.^ 

These  two  rival  pieces  were  much  celebrated 
in  Rome  ;  and  had  their  several  admirers,  as  dif- 
ferent parties  and  interests  disposed  men  to  favour 
the  subject  or  the  author  of  each  :  and  it  is  certain, 
that  they  were  the  principal  cause  of  establishing 
and  propagating  that  veneration,  which  posterity 
has  since  paid  to  the  memory  of  Cato.  For  his 
name  being  thrown  into  controversy,  in  that  criti- 
cal period  of  the  fate  of  Rome,  by  the  patron  of 
liberty  on  the  one  side,  and  the  oppressor  of  it  on 
the  other,  became,  of  course,  a  kind  of  political 
test  to  all  succeeding  ages  y  and  a  perpetual  argu- 
ment of  dispute  between  the  friends  of  liberty, 
and  the  flatterers  of  power.  But  if  we  consider 
his  character  without  prejudice,  he  was  certainly  a 
great  and  worthy  man  ;  a  friend  to  truth,  virtue, 
liberty  :  yet,  falsely  measuring  all  duty  by  the  ab- 

*  Cieeronis  libro — quid  aliiid  Dictator  Caesar,  quain  rescripta  ora- 
tione,  velut  apud  judices  respQndit  ?  I'acit.  Ann.  4.  34.  it.  Quintil.  3.  7. 

f  Plutar.  in  Cic. 

I  Legi  epistolam  :  miilta  de  meo  Catone,  quo  saepissime  legendo  sc. 
dicil  copiosiorem  factum  ;  JbJruti  Catone  lecto,  se  sibi  visum  disertum 
AdAtt.  13.  46. 


8Ecr.  viii.  CICERO.  355 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III,    IVL  Aerailius  Lepidus. 

surd  riirour  of  the  Stoical  rule,  he  was  generally 
disappointed  of  tlie  end  which  he  sought  by  it, 
the  happiness  both  of  his  private  and  publick 
life.  In  his  private  conduct,  he  vvas  severe,  mo- 
rose, inexorable  ;  banishing  all  the  softer  affections, 
as  natural  enemies  to  justice,  and  as  suggesting 
false  motives  of  acting,  from  favour,  clemency, 
and  compassion ;  in  publick  affairs  he  was  the 
same ;  and  had  but  one  rule  of  policy,  to  adiiere  to 
what  was  right ;  without  regard  to  times  or  circum- 
stances, or  even  to  a  force  that  could  control  him  : 
for,  instead  of  managing  the  power  of  the  great, 
so  as  to  mitigate  the  ill,  or  extract  any  good  from  it, 
he  was  urging  it  always  to  acts  of  violence  by  a 
perpetual  defiance ;  so  that,  with  the  best  inten- 
tions in  the  world,  he  often  did  great  harm  to  the 
republick.  This  was  his  general  behaviour ;  yet, 
from  some  particular  facts  explained  above,  it  ap- 
pears that  his  strength  of  mind  was  not  always  im- 
pregnable, but  had  its  vreak  places  of  pride,  am- 
bition, and  party  zeal ;  which,  when  managed  and 
flattered  to  a  certain  point,  would  betray  him  some- 
times into  measures  contrary  to  his  ordinary  rule  of 
right  and  truth.  The  last  act  of  his  life  was  agree- 
able to  his  nature  and  philosophy :  when  he  could 
no  longer  be  what  he  had  been  ;  or  when  the  ills 
of  life  overbalanced  the  good,  which,  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  sect,  was  a  just  cause  for  dying;^^'  he  put 
an  end  to  his  life,  with  a  spirit  and  resolution  which 
would  make  one  imagine,  that  he  was  glad  to  have 
found  an  occasion  of  dying  in  his  proper  character, 

*  fn  quo  cnim  pliira  sunt,  qtiae  seciiiKliim  naturain  sunt,  liujus  of- 
ficium  est  in  vita  manere  :  in  quo  autein  aut  sunt  plura  contraria,  aut 
fore  videotur,  Imjus  officium  este  vita  pxcedere.     l)e  Fin.  3.  18. 

Vetus  est  enira ;  ubi  uon  sis,  qui  I'ueris,  uou  esse  cur  velis  \rivere. 
Lp.  Fain.  7.  3. 


356  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  viii. 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M-  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

On  the  whole,  his  life  was  rather  admirable,  than 
amiable ;  fit  to  be  praised,  rather  than  imitated.* 

As  soon  as  Cicero  had  published  his  Cato,  he 
wrote  his  piece  called  the  Oralor^  at  the  request 
of  Brutus  ;  containing  the  plan  or  delineation  of 
what  he  himself  esteemed  the  most  perfect  elo- 
quence or  manner  of  speaking.  He  calls  it  the 
fifth  part  or  book,  designed  to  complete  the  ar<zu- 
ment  of  his  Brutus,  and  the  other  three,  on  the 
same  subject.  It  was  received  with  great  appro- 
bation ;  and,  in  a  letter  to  Lepta,  who  had  com- 
plimented him  upon  it,  he  declares,  that  whatever 
judgment  he  had  in  speaking,  he  had  thrown  it 
all  into  that  work,  and  was  content  to  risk  his  re- 
putation on  the  merit  of  it.f 

He  now  likewise  spoke  that  famous  speech  of 
thanks  to  Caesar,  for  the  pardon  of  M.  iVIarcellus; 
which  was  granted  upon  the  intercession  of  the 
senate.  Cicero  had  a  particular  friendship  with  all 
the  family  of  the  Marcelli ;  but  especially  with 
this  Marcus ;  who  from  the  defeat  of  Pompey  at 
Pharsalia,  retirtfd  to  Mitylene  in  Lesbos,  where  he 
lived  with  so  much  ease  and  satisfaction  to  him- 


*  Cato  sic  abiit  e  vita,  ut  causam  moritindi  nactnra  se  esse  gau- 
deret. — cum  vera  causam  justaiii  Deus  ipse  dederit,  ut  tunc  Socrati, 
nunc  Catoni,  etc.  Tusc.  Uuaest.  1.  30. 

Catoni.— moriundum  potius,  quara  Tyranui  vultus  adspiciendus  fuit. 
De  Offic.  1.  31. 

Non  immaturus  decessit :  vixit  enim,  quantum  debuit  vivere.  Se- 
nec.  Consol.  Ad  Marc.  20.         ^ 

t  Ita  tres  erunt  de  oratore  :  quartus  Brutus :  quintus,  orator.  De 
Div.  2.  1. 

Oratorera  meum  tantopere  a  te  probari,  vebementer  gaudeo  :  mi- 
hi  quidem  sic  persuaded,  me  quicquid  habuerim  judicii  in  dicendo,  in 
ilium  librum  contulisse.     Ep.  Fam.  6.  18. 


SECT.     Vlll. 


CICERO.  357 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aerailius  Lepidus. 

self  in  a  philosophical  retreat,  that  Cicero,  as  it 
appears  from  his  letters,  was  forced  to  use  all  his 
art  and  authority  to  persuade  him  to  return,  and 
take  the  benefit  of  that  grace  which  they  had  been 
labouring  to  obtain  for  him.^  But  how  the  af- 
fair was  transacted,  we  may  learn  from  Cicero's 
account   of  it  to   Serv.   Sulpicius,   who  was  then 

proconsul  of  Greece "  Your  condition,"  says 

he,  ''  is  better  than  ours,  in  this  particular,  that  you 
"  dare  venture  to  write  your  grievances  :  we  can- 
"  not  even  do  that  with  safety:  not  through  any 
"fault  of  the  conqueror,  than  whom  nothing  can 
"be  more  moderate,  but  of  victory  itself,  which 
"  in  civil  wars  is  always  insolent :  we  have  had  the 
"  advantaoe  of  you  however  in  one  thing  ;  in  being 
"acquainted  a  little  sooner  than  you,  with  the 
"pardon  of  your  colleague  Marcellus  :  or  ratlier, 
"indeed,  in  seeing  how  the  whole  affair  passed ; 
"for  I  would  have  you  believe,  that,  from  tlie  be- 
^'  ginning  of  these  miseries,  or  ever  since  the  pub- 
"  lick  right  has  been  decided  by  arms,  there  has 
"  nothing  been  done  besides  this,  with  any  dii^nity. 
"  For  Caesar  himself,  after  having  complained  of 
"  the  moroseness  of  Marcellus,  for  so  he  called  it, 
"  and  praisedy  in  the  strongest  terms,  the  equity 
*'  and  prudence  of  your  conduct,  presently  de- 
"  clared,  beyond  all  our  hopes,  that  whatever  of- 
'•  fence  he  had  received  from  tlie  man,  he  could 
"  refuse  nothing  to  the  intercession  of  the  senate. 
"  What  the  senate  did  was  this  :  upon  the  mention 
"  of  Marcellus  by  Piso,  his  brother  Caius  having 
"thrown  himself  at  Caesar's  feet,  they  all  rose  up, 
"  and  went  forward  in  a  supplicating  manner  to- 

*  Kp.  Fam.  4.  7,  8,  9. 


tioS  THE    LIFE  OF  sect,  viiu 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aetnilius  Lepidus. 

"  wards  Caesar  :  in  short,  this  day's  work  appeared 
"  to  me  so  decent,  that  I  could  not  help  fancying 
"that  1  saw  the  image  of  the  old  republick  reviv- 
"  ing :  when  all,  therefore,  who  were  asked  their 
"  opinions  before  me,  had  returned  thanks  to  Cae- 
"  sar,  excepting  Yolcatius,  (for  he  declared,  that 
''  he  would  not  have  done  it,  though  he  had  been 
"  in  Marcellus's  place,)  I,  as  soon  as  I  was  called 
*'  upon,  changed  my  mind ;  for  I  had  resolved 
"  with  myself  to  observe  an  eternal  silence,  not 
''  through  any  laziness,  but  the  loss  of  my  former 
*'  dignity  ;  but  Caesar's  greatness  of  mind,  and  the 
"  laudable  zeal  of  the  senate,  got  the  better  of  my 
"  resolution.  I  gave  thanks,  therefore,  to  Caesar 
"  in  a  long  speech,  and  have  deprived  myself  by 
''it,  I  fear,  on  other  occasions,  of  that  honest 
''  quiet,  which  was  my  only  comfort  in  these  un- 
**  happy  times  :  but  since  I  have  hitherto  avoided 
'*  giving  him  offence,  and  if  I  had  always  con- 
"  tinned  silent,  he  would  have  interpreted  it  per- 
"  haps,  as  a  proof  of  my  taking  the  republick  to 
"  be  ruined  :  I  shall  speak  for  the  future  not  often, 
"  or  rathei;,  very  seldom  ;  so  as  to  manage  at  the 
"  same  time,  both  his  favour,  and  my  own  leisure 
"  for  study.=^ 

Caesar,  though  he  saw  the  senate  unanimous  in 
their  petition  for  Marcellus,  yet  took  the  pains  to 
call  for  the  particular  opinion  of  every  senator 
upon  it ;  a  method  never  practised,  except  in  cases 
of  debate  and  where  'the  house  was  divided ;  but 
he  wanted  the  usual  tribute  of  flattery  upon  this 
act  of  grace,  and  had  a  mind  probably  to  make  an 

*  Ep.  Fam.  4.  4. 


SECT.    ViU. 


CICERO.  259 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.     iL  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

experiment  of  Cicero's  temper,  and  to  draw  from 
him  especially  some  incense  on  the  occasion  ;  nor 
was  he  disappointed  of  his  aim ;  for  Cicero,  touched 
by  his  generosity,  and  greatly  pleased  with  the 
act  itself,  on  the  account  of  his  friend,  returned 
thanks  to  him  in  a  speech,  which,  though  made 
upon  the  spot,  yet,  for  elegance  of  diction,  viva- 
city of  sentiment,  and  politeness  of  compliment,  is 
superiour  to  any  thing  extant  of  the  kind  in  all 
antiquity.  The  many  fine  things  which  are  said 
in  it  of  Caesar,  have  given  some  handle  indeed  for 
a  charge  of  insincerity  against  Cicero  ;  but  it  must 
be  remembered,  that  he  was  delivering  a  speech 
of  thanks,  not  only  for  himself,  but  in  the  name 
and  at  the  desire  of  the  senate,  where  his  subject 
naturally  required  the  embellishments  of  oratory  ; 
and  that  all  his  compliments  are  grounded  on  a. 
supposition,  that  Caesar  intended  to  restore  the 
republick,  of  which  he  entertained  no  small  hopes 
at  this  time,  as  he  signifies  in  a  letter  to  one  of 
Caesar's  principal  friends.*  This,  therefore,  he 
recommends,  enforces,  and  requires  from  him  in 
his  speech,  with  the  spirit  of  an  old  Roman ;  and 
no  reasonable  man  will  think  it  strange,  that  so 
free  an  address  to  a  conqueror,  in  the  height  of  all 
his  power,  should  want  to  be  tempered  with  some 
few  strokes  of  flattery.  But  the  following  pas- 
sage from  the  oration  itself  will  justify  the  truth 
of  what  I  am  saving;. 

"  If  this,  (says  he,)  Caesar,  was  to  be  the  end 
"  of  your  immortal  acts,  that,  after  conquering  all 

*  Sperare  tamen  videor,  Caesari,   collegae  nostro,  fore  curae   et 
esse,  ut  habeaaius  aliqnam  Rempuhllcain.     Kp.  Fam.  13.  68 


360  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


''  your  enemies,  you  should  leave  the  republick  in 
"  the  condition  in  which  it  now  is,  consider,  I  be- 
"  seech  you,  whether  your  divine  virtue  would 
"  not  excite  rather  an  admiration  of  you  than  any 
*'  real  glory  ;  for  glory  is  the  illustrious  fame  of 
*'  many  and  great  services,  either  to  our  friends, 
"  our  country,  or  to  the  whole  race  of  mankind. 
"  This  part,  therefore,  still  remains ;  there  is  one 
"  act  more  to  be  performed  by  you  ;  to  establish 
"  the  republick  again,  that  you  may  reap  the  be- 
''nefit  of  it  yourself  in  peace  and  prosperity. 
"  When  you  have  paid  this  debt  to  your  country, 
"  and  fulfilled  the  ends  of  your  nature  by  a  satiety 
"  of  living,  you  may  then*^  tell  us,  if  you  please, 
"  that  you  have  lived  long  enough  :  Yet  what  is 
"  it,  after  all,  that  we  can  really  call  long,  of  which 
"  there  is  an  end  ;  for  when  that  end  is  once  come, 
"  all  past  pleasure  is  to  be  reckoned  as  nothing, 
"  since  no  more  of  it  is  to  be  expected.  Though 
"  your  mind,  I  know,  was  never  content  with  these 
"  narrow  bounds  of  life  which  nature  has  assigned 
*•  to  us,  but  inflamed  always  with  an  ardent  love 
"  of  immortality :  Nor  is  this,  indeed,  to  be  con- 
"  sidered  as  your  life,  which  is  comprised  in  this 
"  body  and  breath,  but  that — that,  I  say,  is  your 
"  life,  which  is  to  flourish  in  the  memory  of  all 
''  ages  ;  whi^^h  posterity  will  cherish,  and  eternity 
"  itself  propagate.  It  is  to  this  that  you  must 
** attend;  to  this  that  you  must  form  yourself; 
'•  which  has  many  things  already  to  admire,  yet 
*'  wants  something  still  that  it  may  praise  in  you. 
"  Posterity  will  be  amazed  to  hear  and  read  of 
"  your  commands,  provinces,  the  Rhine,  the  ocean, 
"  the  Nile  ;  your  innumerable  battles,  incredible 
"'  victories,  infinite  monuments,  splendid  triumphs  : 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  361 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.  Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar    III.    M.  Aemilius  Lt'pidus. 


"  but,  unless  this  city  be  established  again  by 
'*  your  wisdom  and  counsels,  your  name  indeed 
*•  will  wander  far  and  wide,  yet  v/ill  have  no 
"  certain  seat  or  place,  at  last,  where  to  fix  itself, 
**  There  will  be  also  amongst  those,  who  are  yet 
'•  unborn,  the  same  controversy  tliat  has  been 
"amongst  us;  when  some  vrill  extol  your  actions 
"to  the  skies  ;  others,  perhaps,  will  find  something 
"  defective  in  them,  and  that  one  thing  above  all, 
"if you  should  not  extinguish  this  flame  of  civil 
"  war,  by  restoring  liberty  to  your  country ;  for 
"  the  one  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  effect  of 
"  fate,  but  the  other  is  the  certain  act  of  wisdom. 
"  Pay  a  reverence,  therefore,  to  those  judges,  who 
''  will  pass  judgment  upon  you  in  ages  to  come, 
"  and  with  less  partiality,  perhaps,  than  we,  since 
*'  they  will  neither  be  biassed  by  affection  or  party, 
"  nor  prejudiced  by  hatreci  or  envy  to  you:  And 
"  though  this,  as  some  falsely  imagine,  should 
"  then  have  no  relation  to  you,  yet  it  concerns  you 
"  certainly,  at  tlie  present,  to  act  in  such  a  raan- 
"  ner,  that  no  oblivion  may  ever  obscure  the  lustre 
"  of  your  praises.  Various  were  the  inclinations 
"of the  citizens,  and  their  opinions  wholly  divi- 
"  ded :  Nor  did  we  differ  only  in  sentiments  and 
"  wishes,  but  in  arms  also  and  camps  :  The  merits 
"  of  the  cause  were  dubious,  and  the  contention 
"  between  two  celebrated  leaders  :  Many  doubted 
"  what  was  the  best ;  many  what  was  convenient ; 
"many  what  was  descent;  some  also,  what  was 
"  lawful,"  &c.^ 


*  Pro  M.  Marcel  1.  8,  9.  10 
VOL.    IT.  46 


362  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  viii. 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cjc.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  IIL    M,  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


But,  though  Caesar  took  no  step  towards  restor- 
ing the  republick,  he  employed  himself  this  sum- 
mer in  another  work  of  general  benefit  to  man- 
kind ;  the  reformation  of  the  kalendary  by  accom- 
modatino;  the  course  of  the  year  to  the  exact 
course  of  the  sun,  from  which  it  had  varied  so 
widely,  as  to  occasion  a  strange  confusion  in  all 
their  accounts  of  time. 

The  Roman  year,  from  the  old  institution  of 
Numa,  was  lunar,  borrowed  from  the  Greeks, 
amongst  whom  it  consisted  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty-four  days :  Numa  added  one  more  to  them, 
to  make  the  whole  number  odd,  which  was  thought 
the  more  fortunate ;  and,  to  fill  up  the  deficiency 
of  his  year,  to  the  measure  of  the  solar  course,  in- 
serted likewise,  or  intercalated,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Greeks,  an  extraordinary  month  of  twenty- 
two  days  every  second  year,  and  twenty-three 
every  fourth,  between  the  twenty-third  and  twenty- 
fourth  day  of  February  :^  he  committed  the  care 
of  intercalating  this  month,  and  the  supernumerary 
day,  to  the  college  of  priests,  who,  in  process  of 
time,  partly  by  a  negligent,  partly  a  superstitious, 
but  chiefly  by  an  arbitrary  abuse  of  their  trust,  used 
either  to  drop  or  insert  them,  as  it  was  found 
most  convenient  to  themselves  or  their  friends,  to 
make  the  current  year  longer  or  shorter.f     Thus 

*  This  was  usually  called  Intercalaris,  though  Plutarch  gives  it  the 
name  of  Mercedonius,  which  none  of  the  Koinan  writers  mention, 
except  that  Festus  speaks  of  some  days  under  the  title  of  Mercedo- 
niae,  because  the  Merces  or  wages  of  workmen  were  commonly  paid 
upon  them. 

f  Quod  institutum  perite  a  Numa,  posteriorum  Pontificum  negli- 
gentia  dissolutum  est.  De  Leg.  2.  12.  vid.  Censorin.  de  die  Nat.  c. 
20.  Macrob.  Sat.  1.  14. 


^ECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  863 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

Cicero,  when  harassed  by  a  perpetual  course  of 
pleading,  prayed,  that  there  might  be  no  interca- 
lation to  lengthen  his  fatigue ;  and,  when  procon- 
sul of  Cilicia,  pressed  Atticus  to  exert  all  his  in- 
terest to  prevent  any  intercalation  within  the  year, 
that  it  might  not  protract  his  government,  and 
retard  his  leturn  to  Rome.^  Curio,  on  the  con- 
trary, when  he  could  not  persuade  the  priests  to 
prolong  the  year  of  his  tribunate,  by  an  intercala- 
tion, made  that  a  pretence  for  abandoning  the  se- 
nate, and  going  over  to  Caesar.f 

This  license  of  intercalating  introduced  the  con- 
fusion above  mentioned,  in  the  computation  of 
their  time  :  so  that  the  order  of  all  their  months 
was  transposed  from  their  stated  seasons,  the  win- 
ter months  carried  back  into  autumn,  the  autumnal 
into  summer,  till  Caesar  resolved  to  put  an  end  to 
this  disorder,  by  abolishing  the  source  of  it,  the 
use  of  intercalations  ;  and  instead  of  the  Lunar  to 
establish  the  Solar  year,  adjusted  to  the  exact  mea- 
sure of  the  sun's  revolution  in  the  Zodiack^  or  to 
that  period  of  time  in  which  it  returns  to  the  point 
from  which  it  set  out ;  and  as  this,  according  to  the 
astronomers  of  that  age,  was  supposed  to  be  three 
hundred  and  sixty-Jive  days  and  six  hours,  so  he 
divided  the  days  into  twelve  artificial  months; 
and,  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  the  six  hours,  by 

*  Nos  hie  in  raultitudine  et  celebritate  jiidiciorum — ita  destine- 
mur,  ut  quotidie  vota  taciaraus  ne  intercaletur.     Ep.  Fam.  7.  2. 

Per  fortunas  primura  illud  praetulci  atque  praemuni  quaeso,  lit  si- 
raus  annul ;  ne  intercaletur  quideoi.     Ad  Att.  5.  13.  it.  9. 

f  Levissime  enim,  quia  de  intercalando  non  obtiuuerat,  tranfu- 
git  ad  populum,  et  pro  Caesare  loqui  eoepit.  Ep.  Fam.  8.  6.  Dio, 
p.  148. 


364  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 


A,  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.—C.  Julius  Caesar.  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


which  they  fell  short  of  the  sun's  complete  course, 
he  ordered  a  day  to  be  intercalated  after  every 
four  years,  between  the  twenty -third  and  twenty- 
fourth  of  February.^ 

But  to  malvc  this  new  year  besjin,  and  proceed 
regularly,  he  was  forced  to  insert  into  the  current 
year  two  extraordinary  months,  between  Novem- 
ber and  December;  the  one  of  thirty  three,  the 
other  of  thirty -four  days,  besides  the  ordinary  in- 
tercalary month  of  tw^enty-three  days,  which  fell 
into  it  of  course,  which  were  all  necessary  to  fill 
up  the  number  of  days  that  were  lost  to  the  old 
year,  hy  the  omission  of  intercalations,  and  to  re- 
place the  months  in  their  proper  seasons.f  All 
this  was  effected  by  the  care  and  skill  of  Sosi^^e- 
pes,  a  celebrated  astronomer  of  Alexandria,  whom 
Caesar  had  brought  to  Rome  for  that  purpose  :J 
and  a  new  kalendar  was  formed  upon  it  by  Flavius, 
a  scribe,  di<j^ested  according  to  order  of  the  Ro- 
man festivals,  and  the  old  manner  of  computing 
their  days,  by  Kalends,  Ides,  and  Nones,  which 
was  published  and  authorized  by  the  dictator's 
edict,  not  long  after  his  return  from  Africk.  This 
year,  therefore,  was  the  longest  that  Rome  had 
ever   known,  consisting  of  fifteen   months,  or  four 


*  This  day  was  called  Bissertus,  from  i^s  being;  a  repetition  or 
duplicate  of  the  Sixth  of  the  Kalends  nf  March,  which  fell  always 
on  the  24th;  and  hence  our  Intercalary  or  Leap-i/ear  is  still  called 
Bissextile. 

f  Quo  autena  ma2;ls  in  posferum  ex  Kalendis  Janiiariis  nobis  tern- 
poruTii  ratio  congrneret,  inter  N^ovembrem  ot  Decemhr^m  iDen«;^m 
adjecit  duos  alios :  f'uitque  is  anoiis — xv.  men-iurn  cum  inlercalario, 
qui  ex  consuetudine  eura  annum  inciderat.     Suet.  J.  Cats.  40. 

|Piin.  Hist.N.  18.  25. 


SECT.     VIII. 


CICERO.  3ed 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.--C.  Julius  Caesar.  III.    M.  Aemilius  LepMus. 

hundred  and  forty-five  days,  and  is  called  the  last 
of  the  confusion  ;*  because  it  introduced  the  Juli- 
an, or  Solar  year,  with  the  commencement  of  the 
ensuing  January,  which  continues  in  use  to  this 
day  in  all  Christian  countries,  without  any  other  va- 
riation than  that  of  the  old  and  new  stile, f 

Soon  after  the  affair  of  Marcellus,  Cicero  had 
another  occasion  of  trying  both  his  eloquence  and 
interest  with  Caesar,  in  the  cause  of  Ligarius,  who 
was  now  in  exile,  on  account  of  his  having  been 
in  arms  against  Caesar  in  the  African  war,  in  which 
he  had  borne  a  considerable  command.  His  two 
brothers,  however,  had  always  been  on  Caesar's 
side ;  and,  being  recommended  by  Pansa,  and 
warmly  supported  by  Cicero,  had  almost  prevailed 
for  his  pardon,  of  which  Cicero  skives  the  follow- 
ing account  in  a  letter  to  Ligarius  himself. 


Cicero  to  Ligarius, 

''  I  would  have  you  to  be  assured  that  T  employ 
"  my  whole  pains,  labour,  care,  study,  in  procuring 

t  Adnitente  sibi  M.  Flavio  scriba,  qui  scriptos  d  es  singiilos  -ta  ad 
Dictatorem  detulit,  ut  et  ordo  eornrn  invenij  i  facillirae  posset.  e\  iii- 
vento^  certus  siatjs  perseveraret — eaqne  re  factum  est,  ut  annus  con- 
fusionis  ultimus  in  quadriugentos  quadraginta  tres  dies  tenderetur. 
Macroh.  Sat.  1.  14.  Dio  227. 

Macrobius  makes  this  year  to  consist  of  443  days,  but  he  should  have 
said  445,  «ince,  according  to  all  accounts,  90  days  were  added  to  the 
old  year  of  355. 

f  This  difference  of  the  old  and  new  stile  was  occasioned  by  a  regula- 
tion made  by  Pope  Gregory  A.  D.  1582;  for  it  having  been  observed, 
that  the  computation  of  the  Fernal  Equinox  was  faHen  back  ten  days 
from  the  i'une  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  when  it  was  found  to  be  on  the 
2]st  of  March,  according  to  which  all  the  festivals  of  the  church 
were  then  solemnly  settled,  Pope  Gregory,  by  the  advice  of  astrono 


366  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus; 

"  your  restoration  :  for  as  I  have  ever  had  the  great- 
*'  est  affection  for  you,  so  the  singular  piety  and 
*'  love  of  your  brothers,  for  whom,  as  well  as  your- 
"self,  I  have  always  professed  the  utmost  esteem, 
"  never  suffer  me  to  neglect  any  opportunity  of 
"  my  duty  and  service  to  you.  But  what  I  am 
*'now  doing,  or  have  done,  I  would  have  you 
*'  learn  from  their  letters,  rather  than  mine  ;  but 
"  as  to  what  I  hope,  and  take  to  be  certain  in  your 
"  affair,  that  I  choose  to  acquaint  you  with  my- 
'^  self :  for  if  any  man  be  timorous  in  great  and 
"  dangerous  events,  and  fearing  always  the  worst, 
"  rather  than  hoping  the  best,  I  am  he  ;  and  if  this 
"  be  a  fault,  confess  myself  not  to  be  free  from 
"  it ;  yet,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  November, 
"  when,  at  the  desire  of  your  brothers,  I  had  been 
"early  with  Caesar,  and  gone  through  the  trou- 
"ble  and  indignity  of  getting  access  and  audience, 
"when  your  brothers  and  relations  had  thrown 
"  themselves  at  his  feet,  and  I  had  said  what  your 
"  cause  and  circumstances  required,  I  came  away, 
"  persuaded  that  your  pardon  was  certain  ;  which 
"  I  collected,  ^not  only  froto  Caesar's  discourse, 
"  which  was  mild  and  generous,  but  from  his  eyes 
"  and  looks,  and  many  other  signs,  which  I  could 
"  better  observe  than  describe.  It  is  your  part, 
"therefore,  to  behave  yourself  with  firmness  and 
*'  courage ;  and  as  you  have  borne  the  more  turbu- 
"  lent  part  prudently,  to  bear  this  calmer  slate  of 
"things  cheerfully.*  I  shall  continue  still  to  take 
"  the  same  pains  in  your  affairs,  as  if  there  was  the 
"  greatest  difficulty  in  them,  and  will  heartily  sup- 


mers,  caused  ten  days  to  be  entirely  sunk  and  thrown  out  of  the  cur- 
rent year,  between  the  4th  and  15th  of  October. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  36r 


A.  Uri).  707.    Cic.  61.  Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 


"  plicate  in  your  behalf,  as  I  have  hitherto  done, 
"  not  only  Caesar  himself,  but  all  his  friends,  whom  1 
"  have  ever  found  most  affectionate  to  me.  Adieu."* 

While  Ligarius's  affair  was  in  this  hopeful  way, 
Q..  Tubero,  who  had  an  old  quarrel  with  him,  be- 
ing desirous  to  obstruct  his  pardon,  and  knowin©- 
Caesar  to  be  particularly  exasperated  against  all 
those  who,  through  an  obstinate  aversion  to  him, 
had  renewed  the  war  in  Africk,  accused  him,  in 
the  usual  forms,  of  an  uncommon  zeal  and  violence 
in  prosecuting  that  war.  Caesar  privately  encour- 
aged the  prosecution,  and  ordered  the  cause  to  be 
tried  in  the  forum,  where  he  sat  upon  it  in  person, 
strongly  prepossessed  against  the  criminal,  and 
determined  to  lay  hold  on  any  plausible  pretence 
for  condemning  him  :  but  the  force  of  Cicero's 
eloquence,  exerted  with  all  his  skill,  in  a  cause 
which  he  had  much  at  heart,  got  the  better  of  all 
his  prejudices,  and  extorted  a  pardon  from  him 
against  his  will. 

The  merit  of  this  speech  is  too  well  known, 
to  need  to  be  enlarged  upon  here  :  those  w^ho  read 
it,  will  find  no  reason  to  charge  Cicero  with  flatte- 
ry :  but  the  free  spirit  which  it  breathes,  in  the 
face  of  that  power  to  which  it  was  suing  for  mer- 
cy, must  give  a  great  idea  of  the  art  of  the  speak- 
er, who  could  deliver  such  bold  truths  without 
offence;  as  well  as  of  the  generosity  of  thejudo-e, 
who  heard  them  not  only  with  patience,  but  appro- 
bation. 


•^  Rp.  Kara.  f>.  14. 


368  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aerailius  Lepidus. 

"  Observe,  Caesar,"  says  he  ^'  with  what  fidelity 
"  I  plead  Ligarius's  cause,  when  I  betray  even  my 
"  own  by  it.  O  that  admirable  clemency,  worthy 
"  to  be  celebrated  by  every  kind  of  praise,  letters, 
''  monuments  !  M.  Cicero  defends  a  criminal  before 
"  you,  by  proving  him  not  to  have  been  in  those 
"  sentiments  in  which  he  owns  himself  to  have  been  : 
"nor  does  he  yet  fear  your  secret  thoughts,  or, 
"while  he  is  pleading  for  another,  what  may  occur 
"  to  you  about  himself.  See,  I  say,  how  little  he 
"  is  afraid  of  vou.  See  with  what  a  courao;e  and 
"  gayety  of  speaking  your  generosity  and  wisdom 
"  inspire  me.  I  will  raise  my  voice  to  such  a  pitch, 
"  thai  the  whole  Roman  people  may  hear  me.  After 
"  the  war  was  not  only  begun,  Caesar,  but  in  great 
"measure  finished,  when  I  was  driven  by  no  neces- 
"  sity,  I  went  by  choice  and  judgment  to  join  my- 
^'self  with  those  who  had  taken  arms  against  you. 
"  Before  whom  do  I  say  this  ?  why,  before  him, 
''  who,  though  he  knew  it  to  be  true,  yet  restored 
"  me  to  the  republick,  before  he  had  even  seen  me  ; 
"  who  wrote  to  me  from  Egypt,  that  I  should  be 
"  the  same  rQan  that  T  had  always  been  ;  and,  when 
"he  was  the  only  emperour  \^ithin  the  dominion  of 
"  Rome,  suffered  me  to  be  the  other  ;  and  to  hold 
"  my  laurelled  fasces,  as  long  as  I  thought  them 
*'  worth  holding.^  Do  you  then,  Tubero,  call  Li- 
"  garius's  conduct  wicked  ?  for  w  hat  reason  ?  since 
"  that  cause  has  never  vet  been  called  by  that  name : 
"  some  indeed  call  it  mistake,  others  fear  ;  those  who 
"  speak  more  severely^  hope,  ambition,  hatred,  ob- 
"  stinacy  ;  or,  at  the  worst,  rashness ;  but  no  man, 
"  besides  you,  has  ever  called  it  wickedness.     For 

*  Pro  Ligar.  3. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  369 

A.  Urb   707.     Cic.  «1.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aeinilius  Ltpidus. 

"my  part,  were  I  to  invent  a  proper  and  genuine 
"  name  for  our  calamity,  I  should  take  il  for  a  kind 
"of  fatality,  tliat  had  possessed  the  unwary  mirjds 
"  of  men  ;  so  that  none  can  think  it  strani^e,  tliat  all 
''human  counsels  were  overruled  by  a  divine  neces- 
"  sity.  Call  us  then,  if  you  please,  unhappy ; 
"though  we  can  never  be  so,  under  this  conqueror; 
"  but  I  speak  not  of  us,  who  survive,  but  of  tliose 
"  who  fell ;  let  them  be  ambitious ;  let  them  be 
"  anijry  ;  let  them  be  obstinate  ;  but  let  not  the 
''  o  uilt  of  crime,  of  fury,  of  parricide,  ever  be  char^- 
"  ed  on  Cn.  Pompey,  and  on  many  of  those  who 
''  died  with  him.  When  did  we  ever  hear  any  such 
"  thint^  from  you,  Caesar  ?  or  what  other  view  had 
"  you  in  the  war,  than  to  defend  yourself  from  in- 
"  jury  ? — You  considered  it  from  the  first,  not  as  a 
"  war,  but  a  secession  ;  not  as  an  hostile,  but  civil 
''dissension:  where  both  sides  wished  well  to  the 
"republick;  yet,  through  a  difference,  partly  of 
"councils,  partly  of  inclinations,  deviated  from  the 
"  common  ^ood  :  the  dio  nity  of  the  leaders  was  al- 
"  most  equal ;  though  not,  perhaps,  of  those  who 
"  followed  them  :  the  cause  was  then  dubious,  since 
"there  was  somethinor  which  one  mi^^ht  approve  on 
"either  side  ;  but  now,  th  it  must  needs  be  thouiJ:;ht 
"the  best,  which  the  Gods  have  favoured;  and, 
"  after  the  experience  of  your  clemency,  who  can 
"  be  displeased  with  that  victory,  in  which  no  man 
"  fell  who  was  not  actually  in  arms  ?"* 

The  speech  was  soon  made  pul)lick,  and  o;reedily 
boucrht  by  all :  Atticus  was  extremely  pleased  with 
it,  and  very  industrious  in  recommendini^  it ;  so  tliat 

*  Pro.  Ligar.  6. 

VOL.  II.  47 


';i70  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  tih, 

A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  AemUios  Lepidus. 

Cicero  says  merrily  to  him  by  letter,  "  You  have 
'*  sold  my  Lii>;arian  speech  finely  :  whatever  I  write 
''  for  the  future,  I  will  make  you  the  publisiier." 
And  again,  "your  authority,  I  perceive,  has  made 
"my  little  oration  famous  :  for  Balbus  and  Oppius 
"  write  me  word,  that  they  are  wonderfully  taken 
"  with  it,  and  have  sent  a  copy  to  Caesar."^  The 
success  which  it  met  with,  made  Tubero  ashamed  of 
the  fi^^ure  that  he  made  in  it ;  so  that  lie  applied 
to  Cicero  to  have  somethini^  inserted  in  his  favour, 
with  the  mention  of  his  wife  and  some  of  his  family, 
who  were  Cicero's  near  relations :  but  Cicero  ex- 
cused himself,  because  the  speech  was  got  abroad  : 
**  nor  had  he  a  mind,"  he  says,  ''  to  make  any  apo- 
''  logy  for  Tu hero's  conduct.f 

Lijrarius  was  a  man  of  distinguished  zeal  for  the 
liberty  of  his  country  :  whicli  was  the  reason  both 
of  Cicero's  pains  to  preserve,  and  of  Caesar's 
averseness  to  restore  him.  After  his  return  he  lived 
in  great  confidence  with  Brutus,  who  found  him  a 
fit  person  to  bear  a  part  in  the  conspiracy  against 
Caesar;  but,  happening  to  be  taken  ill  near  the 
time  of  its  '^execution,  when  Brutus,  in  a  visit  to 
him,  began  to  lament  that  he  was  fallen  sick  in  a 
very  unlucky  hour,  Ligarius,  raising  himself  pre- 
sently upon  his  elbow,  and  taking  Brutus  by  the 
hand,  replied  :  "  Yet  still,  Biutus,  if  you  mean  to 


*  Ligarianam  praeclare  vendidisti.  Postiiac  quicquid  scripsero,  tibi 
praeconiiim  deferam.     Ad  Att.  13.  12. 

Ligariauam.ut  video,  praeclare  anctoritas  tna  coinmendavit.  Scrip- 
sit  eniin  ad  me  Balbiis  et  Oopius.  mirifire  se  probare,  ob  eamquecau- 
sam  ad  Caesareraeam  se  oratiunculam  misisse.     lb.  19. 

f  Ad  Ligarianam  de  uxore  Tiiberonis,  et  privigna,  neqne  possum 
jam  addere,  est  enim  res  pervnlgata,  neque  Tuberonem  volo  clet'en- 
dere.    Mirifice  est  cnim  <pt\AiTm.     lb.  20, 


%L:cr.  vni.  CICERO.  STl 


A.  Urb.  707.    Cic.  61.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  III.    M.  Aemilius  Lepidus. 

*'  do  any  thing  wortliy  of  yourself,  I  am  well  :"* 
nor  did  he  disappoint  Brutus's  opinion  of  him,  for 
we  find  him  afterwards  in  the  list  of  the  conspi- 
rators. 

In  the  end  of  the  year,  Caesar  was  called  away 
in  i>;reat  haste  into  Spain,  to  oppose  the  attempts  of 
Pompey's  sons,  who,  by  the  credit  of  their  father's 
name,  were  become  masters  ao;ain  of  all  that  pro- 
vince ;  and,  with  the  remains  of  the  troops,  which 
Labienus,  Varus,  and  the  other  chiefs,  who  escap- 
ed, had  gathered  up  from  Africk,  were  once  more 
in  condition  to  try  the  fortune  of  the  field  with 
him  :  where  the  great  danger,  to  w  hich  he  was  ex- 
posed from  this  last  effort  of  a  broken  party,  shews 
how  desperate  his  case  must  have  been,  if  Pompey 
himself,  with  an  entire  and  veteran  army,  had  first 
made  choice  of  this  country  for  the  scene  of  the 
wan 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.    C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    INIag.  Equit. 

CiCKRo  all  this  while  passed  his  time  with  little 
satisfaction  at  home,  being  disappointed  of  the 
ease  and  comfort  which  he  expected  from  his 
new  marriage  :  his  children,  as  we  may  imagine, 
while  their  own  mother  was  living,  would  not  easi- 
ly bear  with  a  young  mother-in-law  in  the  house 
with  them.     The  son,  especially,  was   pressing  to 

"^  PJutarch.  in  Brut. 


572  THE  LIFE    OF  sect.  vni. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.  Mag.  Equit. 


get  a  particular  appointment  settled  for  his  mainte-  • 
nance,  and  to  have  leave  also  to  go  to  Spain,  and 
make  a  campaign  under  Caesar  ;  whither  his  cou- 
sin (iuintus  was  already  gone  :  Cicero  did  not  ap- 
prove this  project ;  and  endeavoured  by  all  means 
to  dissuade  him  from  it ;  representing  to  him,  that 
it  would  naturally  draw  a  just  reproach  upon  them, 
for  not  thinking  it  enough  to  quit  their  former 
party,  unless  they  fought  against  it  too  ;  and  that 
he  would  not  be  pleased  to  see  his  cousin  more  re- 
garded there  than  himself;  and  promising,  withal, 
if  he  would  consent  to  stay,  to  make  him  an  ample 
and  honourable  allowance.^  This  diverted  him 
from  the  thoughts  of  Spain  ;  though  not  from  the 
desire  of  removing  from  his  father,  and  taking  a 
separate  house  in  the  city,  with  a  distinct  familv  of 
his  own :  but  Cicero  thouirht  it  best  to  send  Idm 
to  Athens,  in  order  to  spend  a  few  years  in  the 
study  of  philosophy,  and  polite  letters ;  and  to 
make  the  proposal  ajj^reeable,  offered  him  an  ap- 
pointment that  would  enable  him  to  live  as  splen- 
didly as  any  of  the  Roman  nobility  who  then  re- 
sided there,  Eibulus,  Acidinus,  or  Messala.f — This 
scheme  was  accepted,  and  soon  after  executed  ; 
and  younir  Cicero  was  sent  to  Athens,  with  two  of 
hi<  father's  freedmen,  L.  Tullius  Montanus,  and 
Tullius  Marcianus,  as  the  intendants  and  counsel- 
lors of  his  general  conduct,  while  the  particular 

*  Pe  Ft'ispania  duo  attnii  ;  primnm  idem,  quod  tibi,  me  vereri  vi- 
tuperaticnem  :  noii  sa  is  esse  s:  haec  arma  reliquissrmus  ?  etiam  rou- 
traiia?  deinde  lore  lit  aiiser^liir,  nim  a  fratre  familiaritate  et  oi;  ni 
gratia  vincereuir.  Velim  niagis  liberalitate  uti  raea  quam  sua  liber- 
tate.     Ad  Atl.  12.  7. 

f  Praestabo  noc  Bibulnm.  nee  Acidinnm,  nee  Messalam,  qnos  Athe- 
nis  fiiliiros  audio,  uiajores  sumptus  facturos,  quam  quod  ex  eis  naerce- 
dibus  accipietur.  lb.  3;J, 


SECT.  VIII.  CTCERO.  3r3 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic  63.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  UL    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.   Mag.  Equit. 


direction  of  his  studies  was  left  to  tl)e  principal 
philosophers  of  the  place ;  and,  above  all,  to  Cra- 
tippus,  the  chief  of  the  Peripatetick  sect.=^ 

In  this  uneasy  state  both  of  his  private  and  pub- 
lick  life,  he  was  oppressed  by  a  new  and  most  cruel 
affliction,  the  death  of  liis  beloved  dau2;hter  Tullia; 
which  happened  soon  after  her  divorce  from  Dola- 
bella ;  whose  manners  and  humour  were  entirely 
disaj^reable  to  her.  Cicero  had  lons^  been  delibe- 
ratinsj  with  himself  and  his  friends,  whether  Tullia 
should  not  first  send  the  divorce  ;  but  a  prudential 
regard  to  Dolabella's  power  and  interest  witii  Cae- 
sar, which  was  of  use  to  him  in  these  times,  seems 
to  have  withheld  him.f  The  case  was  the  same 
with  Dolabella,  he  was  willing  enough  to  pnrt  with 
Tullia,  but  did  not  care  to  break  with  Cicero, 
whose  friendship  was  a  credit  to  him ;  and  whom 
gratitude  oblio^ed  him  to  observe  and  reverence ; 
since  Cicero  had  twice  defended  and  preserved 
him  in  capital  causes  :J  so  that  it  seems  most  pro- 
bable that  the  divorce  was  of  an  amicable  kind ; 
and  executed  at  last  by  the  consent  of  both  sides : 
for  it  gave  no  apparent  interruption  to  the  friend- 

*  L.  Tulliiira  Montanum  iiosti,  qui  cum  Cicerone  profectus  est.  lb. 
52,  53. 

Quanquam  te,  IVlarce  fill,  annum  jam  audientem  Cratippura,  etc. 
De  Offic.  1.  1.  it.  2.  2. 

f  Te  oro  ut  de  hac  mi«;era  cogites — melius  qiiidem  in  pessimis  nihil 
fiiit  di'^cidio — nunc  qnidcm  ipse  videtur  denunciare — placet  mihi 
igitur,  el  idem  tibi  nuncium  remitti,  etc.  Ad  Att.  xi.  23.  vid. 
ib.  3. 

Quod  scripsi  de  nuncio  rcmittendo,  quae  sit  istius  vis  hoc  tempore, 
et  quae  concitatio  multiludinis,  isnoio.  Si  metuendiis  iralus  est, 
quies  tamen  ab  ilia  forta^se  nascetur.     t'p,  Fam.  1 1.  13. 

I  Cujus  e^o  salutem  duobus  capitis  judiciis  summa  contentiooe  de- 
fendi Ep.  Fain.  3.  x. 


374  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,   viii 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.   Mag.  Equit. 


ship  between  Cicero  and  Dolabella,  which  they 
carried  on  with  Ihe  same  shew  of  affection,  and 
professions  of  respect  toward  each  other,  as  if  the 
relation  had  still  subsisted. 

Tullia  died  in  childbed,  at  her  husband's  house  ;^ 
which  confirms  the  probability  of  their  agreement 
in  the  divorce :  it  is  certain,  at  least,  that  she  died 
in  Rome  ;  where  Cicero  "  was  detained,"  he  says, 
"  by  the  expectation  of  the  birth,  and  to  receive 
"  the  first  payment  of  her  fortune  back  again  from 
''  Dolabella,  who  was  then  in  Spain :  she  was  de- 
^'  livered,  as  it  was  thought,  very  happily,  and  sup- 
"  posed  to  be  out  of  danger  ;"  when  an  unexpect- 
ed turn  in  her  case  put  an  end  to  her  life,  to  the 
inexpressible  grief  of  her  father.f 

We  have  no  account  of  the  issue  of  this  birth, 
which  writers  confound  with  that  which  happened 
three  years  before,  when  she  was  delivered  at,  the 

mend  of  seven  months  of  a  puny  male  child  :  but 
V^^^whether  it  was  from  the  first,  or  the  second  time 
of  her  lying  in,  it  is  evident. that  she  left  a  son  by 
Dolabella,  whf>  survived  her,  and  whom  Cicero 
mentions  more  than  once  in  his  letters  to  i^Vtticus, 
by  the  name  of  Lentulus  :J  desiring  him  to  visit 
the  child,  and  see  a  due  care  taken  of  him,  and 


*  Plutarch  in  Cic. 

f  Me  Roraae  tenuit  omniao  Tulliae  meae  partus :  sed  cum  ea, 
queraadmodura  spero,  satis  firma  sit,  teneor  tamen,  dura  a  Dolabella 
procuratoribus  exlgaiu  primam  pensionem. — Ep.  Fam.  6.  18. 

I  The  father's  names  were  Publius  Cornelius  Lentulus  Dolabella ; 
the  two  last  being  surnames  acquired  perhaps  by  adoption,  and  dis- 
linguishing  the  different  branches  of  the  Cornelian  family. 


3ECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  375 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  in.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


to  assign  him  what  number  of  servants  he  thought 
proper.* 

Tullia  was  about  two  and  thirty  years  old  at  the 
time  of  her  death  ;  and,  by  the  few  hints  which 
are  left  of  her  character,  appears  to  have  been  an 
excellent  and  admirable  woman  :  she  was  most  af- 
fectionately and  piously  observant  of  her  father ; 
and,  to  the  usual  graces  of  her  sex,  having  added 
the  more  solid  accomplishments  of  knowledge  and 
polite  letters,  was  qualified  to  be  the  companion, 
as  well  as  the  delight  of  his  age  ;  and  was  justly 
esteemed  not  only  as  one  of  the  best,  but  the  most 
learned  of  the  Roman  ladies.  It  is  not  strange, 
therefore,  that  the  loss  of  such  a  daughter,  in  the 
prime  of  her  life,  and  the  most  comfortless  season 
of  his  own,  should  affect  him  with  all  that  grief 
which  the  greatest  calamity  could  imprint  on  a 
temper  naturally  timid  and  desponding. 

Plutarch  tells  us,  that  the  philosophers  came 
from  all  parts  to  comfort  him  ;  but  that  can  hardly 
be  true,  except  of  those  who  lived  in  Rome,  or  in 
his  own  family  ;  for  his  first  care  was,  to  shun  all 
company  as  much  as  he  could,  by  removing  to  At- 

*  Velira  aliquando,  cum  erit  tuiiin  commodiira,  Lentnliim  pueruni 
visas,  eique  de  inancipiis,  quae  tibi  vidcbilur,  attribuas — Ad  Att. 
12.  28. 

Quod  Lentulura  iiivisis,  valde  gratum.  lb.  30 — vid.  etiam  18. — 
N.  B.  -Mr.  Bay le  declares  himself  surprised,  to  find  Asconius  Paedia 
so  ill  informed  of  the  history  of  Tnllia,  as  to  tell  us.  thai,  after  Pico's 
death,  she  was  married  to  P.  Lcntulus,  and  died  in  childbed  at  his 
house  :  in  which  short  account,  there  are  contained,  he  says,  two  or 
three  lies.  But  Plutarch  confirms  the  same  account  ;  and  the  mistake 
will  rest  at  last,  pot  on  Asconius,  but  on  .Mr.  Bayle  himself,  who  did  not 
reflect,  from  the  authority  of  those  ancients,  that  Lentulus  was  one  of 
Dolabella's  names,  by  which  he  was  called  indifferently,  as  well  as  bv 
any  of  the  rest.     See  Bayl.  Diction.  Artie.  Tullia,  note  k. 


3/6  THE  LIFE    OF  sect.  vih. 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62 —C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  IIL    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


ticus's  house  ;  where  he  lived  chiefly  in  the  library ; 
endeavouring^  to  relieve  his  mind,  by  turnintr  over 
every  book,  which  he  could  meet  with,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  moderating  grief:*  but  finding  his  residence 
here  too  puhlick,  and  a  greater  resort  to  him  than 
he  could  bear,  he  retired  to  Astura,  one  of  his  seats 
near  Antium  ;  a  little  island  on  the  Latian  shore,  at 
the  mouth  of  a  river  of  the  same  name,  covered 
with  woods  and  groves,  cut  out  into  shady  walks  ;  a 
scene  of  all  others  the  fittest  to  indulge  melancholy, 
and  where  he  could  give  a  free  course  to  his  grief. 
"  Here,"  says  he, "  I  live  without  the  speech  of  man : 
"  every  morning  early  T  hide  myself  in  the  thickest 
*'  of  the  wood,  and  never  come  out  till  the  evening : 
"next  to  yourself,  nothing  is  so  dear  to  me  as  this 
"solitude:  my  whole  conversation  is  with  my 
V  books  ;  yet  that  is  sometimes  interrupted  by  my 
"tears,  which  [  resist  as  well  as  I  can,  but  am  not 
'*yet  able  to  do  much."t 

Atticus  urged  him  to  quit  this  retirement,  and  di- 
vert himself  with  business,  and  the  company  of  his 
friends ;  and  put  him  gently  in  mind,  that,  by  af- 
flicting himselF^  so  immoderately,  he  would  hurt  his 
character,  and  give  people  a  handle  to  censure 
his  weakness :  to  which  he  makes  the  following 
answer. 


*  iMe  railii  non  defuisse  tu  testis  es,  nihil  euim  de  moerore  rainuen- 
(loabullo  scriptum  est,  quod  ego  non  domi  tiiae  legerim.  Ad.  Att. 
12.  14. 

f  In  hac  solitudine  careo  orfinium  rolloquio,  ciiraque  mane  in  silvam 
me  abstrusi  densam  et  asperam,  non  exeo  iude  ante  vesperuiu.  Se- 
cundum te,  niiiil  raihi  amicius  soliuid  ne.  Id  ea  mihi  omnis  sermo  est 
cumlitteris;  eum  tamen  in'erpellat  fletus;  cui  repugno  quoad  pos- 
sum, sed  adhuc  paresnon  sumus.     lb.  15. 


SECT.   viii.  CICERO.  377 


A.  Urb.   708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

"  As  to  what  you  write,  that  you  are  afraid  lest 
"the  excess  of  my  grief  should  lessen  my  credit 
"  and  autliority ;  I  do  not  know  what  meii  would 
"  have  of  me.     Is  it,  that  I  should  not  o;rieve  ?  that 
"  is  impossible :  or  that  I  should  not  be  oppressed 
"with  grief?  who  was  ever  less  so  ?  when  I  took 
''refuge  at  your  house,   was   any  man  ever  denied 
"  access  to  me  ?  or  did  any  one  ever  come,  who  had 
"  reason  to   complain  of  me  ?  I  went  from  you  to 
"  Astura?  where  tbose  gay  sparks,  who  find  fault 
"with  me,  are  not  able  even  to  read  so  much  as  I 
"have  written  :  how  well,  is  nothing  to   the  pur- 
"pose:  yet  it   is  of  a  kind    which   nobody  could 
"  write  with  a  disordered  mind — I  spent  a  month  in 
"  my  gardens  about  Rome,    where  I  received  all 
"  who  came,  with  the  same  easiness  as  before.     At 
"this    very  moment,   while  I   am   employing  my 
"whole  time  in  reading   and    writing,  those,  who 
"  are  with  me,  are  more  fatigued  with  their  leisure, 
"  than  I  with  my  pains.     If  any  one  asks,  why  I  am 
"  not  at  Rome  ?  because  it  is  vacation  time :  why 
"  not  in  some  of  my  villas,   more  suitable  to  the 
"season:  because  I  could  not  easily  bear  so  much 
"company.     I  am,    where  he,  who  has  the    best 
"house  at  Baiae,  chooses  to  be,  in  this  part  of  the 
"year.     When  I  come  to  Rome,  nobody  shall  find 
"any  thing  amiss,  either  in  my  looks  or  discourse  : 
"  as  to  that  cheerfulness,  with   which  we  used  to 
"  season  the  misery  of  these  times,  I  have  lost  it  in- 
"deed  for  ever  ;  but  will  never  part  with  my  con- 
"stancy  and   firmness,  either  of  mi/id  or  speech, 
"  &c."* 


*  Ad  Att.  12.  40. 
VOL.    VII.  4Pi 


jrs  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vih 


A.  Urb.   708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aeroil.  I,epidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


All  his  other  friends  were  very  officious  likewise 
in  making  their  compliments  of  condolence,  and  ad- 
ministering arguments  of  comfort  to  him  :  among 
the  rest,  Caesar  himself,  in  the  hurry  of  his  affairs 
in  Spain,  wrote  him  a  letter  on  the  occasion,  dated 
from  Hispalis,  the  last  of  April.*  Brutus  wrote 
another,  so  friendly  and  affectionate,  that  it  greatly 
moved  him  if  Lucceius  also,  one  of  the  most  es- 
teemed writers  of  that  age,  sent  him  two ;  the  first 
to  condole,  tlie  second  to  expostulate  with  him  for 
persevering  to  cherish  an  unmanly  and  useless 
grief  :1:  but  the  following  letter  of  Ser.  Sulpicius  is 
thought  to  be  a  masterpiece  of  the  consolatory 
kind. 


"  Ser.  Sulpicius  to  M.  T.  Cicero. 

"  T  was  exceedingly  concerned,  as  indeed  I  ought 
"  to  be,  to  hear  of  the  death  of  your  daughter 
"  Tullia  ;  which  I  looked  upon  as  an  affliction  com- 
"  mon  to  us  both.  If  I  had  been  with  you,  I  would 
"  have  made  it  my  business  to  convince  you,  what 
"a  real  share^l  take  in  your  grief.  Though  that 
"  kind  of  consolation  is  but  wretched  and  lamenta- 
"  ble,  as  it  is  to  be  performed  by  friends  and  rela- 
"  tions,  who  are  overwhelmed  with  grief,  and  can- 
"  not  enter  upon  their  task  without  tears,  and  seem 
"  to  want  comfort  rather  themselves,  than  to  be  in 
"  condition  to  administer  it  to  others.     I  resolved. 


*  A  Caesare  litteras   accepi   consolatorias,  datas  prid.  Kal.   3Iaii. 
Hispali.     AdAtt.  13.  20. 

t  Bruti  litterae  scriptae  et  prudenter  et  amice,  multas  tameo  mihi 
lacrimas  attulerunt.    lb.  12.  13. 

I   Vid.  Ep.  Fam.  5.  13.  14. 


SECT.  Mil.  CICERO.  379 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.     M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

"  therefore,  to  write  to  you  in  short,  what  occurred 
"  upon  it  to  my  own  mind :  not  that  I  imajyined 
*'  that  the  same  things  would  not  occur  also  to  you, 
"  but  that  the  force  of  your  ^rief  might  possibly 
"hinder  your  attention  to  them.  What  reason  is 
"  there  then  to  disturb  yourself  so  immoderately 
"on  this  melancholy  occasion?  Consider  how  for- 
"  tune  has  already  treated  us  :  how  it  has  deprived 
"  us  of  what  ought  to  be  as  dear  to  us  as  children ; 
"our  country,  credit,  dignity,  honours.  After  so 
"  miserable  a  loss  as  this,  what  addition  can  it  possibly 
*'  make  to  our  grief,  to  suffer  one  misfortune  more? 
**  or  how  can  amind,  after  beingexercisedinsuch  tri- 
"  als,  not  grow  callous,  and  think  every  thing  else  of 
"inferiour  value?  but  is  it  for  your  daughter's  sake 
''  that  you  grieve?  yet  how  often  must  you  necessari- 
"  ly  reflect,  as  I  myself  frequently  do,  that  those  can- 
'*  not  be  said  to  be  hardly  dealt  with,  whose  lot  it  has 
"  been,  in  these  times,  without  suffering  any  affliction, 
''  to  exchange  life  for  death.  For  what  is  there  in 
"  our  present  circumstances  that  could  give  her  any 
"  great  invitation  to  live  ?  what  business  ?  what 
"  hopes  ?  what  prospect  of  comfort  before  her  ? 
"  was  it  to  pass  her  days  in  the  married  state,  with 
*'  some  young  man  of  the  first  quality  ?  (for  you, 
''  I  know,  on  the  account  of  your  dignity,  might  have 
"  chosen  what  son-in-law  you  pleased  out  of  all  our 
"youth,  to  whose  fidelity  you  might  safely  have 
"  trusted  her,)  was  it  then  for  the  sake  of  bearing 
"  children,  wliom  she  might  have  had  the  pleasure 
"to  see  flourishing  afterwards,  in  the  enjoyment  of 
"  their  paternal  fortunes,  and  rising  gradually  to 
"  all  the  honours  of  the  state,  and  using  the  liberty, 
"  to  which  they  were  born,    in  the  protection  of 


mo  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  vih. 


A.  Urb.  708.   Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


"  their  friends  and  clients  ?  but  what  is  there  of 
"all  this,  which  was  not  taken  away  before  it  was 
"  even  t^iven  to  her  ?  but  it  is  an  evil,  you  will  say, 
"to  lose  our  children.  It  is  so;  yet  it  is  much 
'^  o;reater  to  sutler  what  we  now  endure.  I  cannot 
"  help  mentioninoj  one  thinsj,  which  has  given  me 
"  no  small  comfort,  and  may  help  also  perhaps  to 
"  miti'<ate  your  gnef.  On  my  return  from  Asia, 
''as  I  was  sailino  from  Ae2!;ina  towards  Megara,  I 
"  be2;an  to  contemplate  the  prospect  of  the  coun- 
" tries  around  me:  Aegina  was  behind,  Megara 
"  before  me  ;  Piraeeus  on  the  right ;  Corinth  on  the 
"  left :  all  which  towns,  once  famous  and  fiourish- 
"  ing,  now  He  overturned,  and  buried  in  their 
'*  ruins  :  upon  this  sight,  I  could  not  but  think  pres- 
"  ently  within  myself,  alas  !  how  do  we  poor  mor- 
"  tals  fret  and  vex  ourselves,  if  any  of  our  friends 
"  happen  to  die,  or  to  be  killed,  whose  life  is  yet 
"  so  short,  when  the  carcasses  of  so  many  noble 
"  cities  lie  here  exposed  before  me  in  one  view  ? 
*'  Why  wilt  thou  not  then  command  thyself,  Ser- 
"  vius,  and  remember,  that  thou  art  born  a  man  ? 
*'  Believe  me,  1  was  not  a  little  confirmed  by  this 
"  contemplation  :  try  the  force  of  it,  therefore,  if 
"you  please,  upon  yourself;  and  imagine  the  same 
"  prospect  before  your  own  eyes.  But  to  come 
"  nearer  home ;  when  you  consider  how  many  of 
"  our  greatest  men  have  perished  lately  at  once  ; 
*^  what  destruction  has  been  made  in  the  empire  ; 
"  what  havock  in  all  the  provinces;  how  can  you 
"  be  so  much  shocked  to  be  deprived  of  the  fleet- 
"  ing  breath  of  one  little  woman  ?  who,  if  she  bad 
''  not  died  at  this  time,  must  necessarily  have  died 
"a  few  years  after,  since  that  was  the  condition  of 
"  her  being  born.     But  recall  your  mind  from  re- 


SECT.  VIII.  CTCERO.  38i 


A.  Urt).  708.    Ck.  62.— C.  Jal.  Caesar  Diet.  lU.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

"  flections  of  this  kind,  to  the  consideration  of 
*<  yourself;  and  think  rather  on  what  becomes 
"  your  character  and  di<Tnity  :  that  your  daugh- 
**ter  lived  as  lons^  as  life  was  worth  enjoyinoj,  as 
"  lon«:  as  the  republick  stood  ;  had  seen  her  father 
"  Praetor,  Consul,  Augur ;  been  married  to  the 
"  noblest  of  our  youth  ;  had  tasted  every  good  in 
"  life ;  and,  when  the  republick  fell,  then  quitted 
"it:  what  ground  is  there  then,  either  for  you, 
"  or  her,  to  complain  of  fortune  on  this  account  ? 
"  In  short,  do  not  forget  that  you  are  Cicero  ;  one, 
**who  has  been  used  always  to  prescribe  and  give 
"  advice  to  others  :  nor  imitate  those  paltry  phy- 
*'sicians,  who  pretend  to  cure  other  people's  dis- 
"  eases,  yet  are  not  able  to  cure  their  own  ;  but 
"  suggest  rather  to  yourself  the  same  lesson,  which 
"  you  would  give  in  the  same  case.  There  is  no 
"grief  so  great,  which  length  of  time  will  not  al- 
"  leviate :  but  it  would  be  shameful  in  you  to  wait 
'^  for  that,  time,  and  not  to  prevent  it  by  your  wis- 
^'  dom  :  besides,  if  there  be  any  sen^e  in  the  dead, 
"  such  was  her  love  and  piety  to  you,  that  she 
"  must  be  concerned  to  see  how  much  you  afflict 
"  yourself.  Give  this  therefore  to  the  deceased  ; 
"  ijive  it  to  your  friends  ;  give  it  to  your  country; 
"  that  it  may  have  the  benefit  of  your  assistance 
"  and  advice,  whenever  there  shall  be  occasion. 
"  Lastly,  since  fortune  has  now  made  it  necessary 
"to  us  to  accommodate  ourselves  U)  our  present 
"  situation  ;  do  not  give  any  one  a  handle  to  think 
"  that  you  are  not  so  much  bewailing  your  daugh- 
"  ter,  as  the  state  of  the  times,  and  the  victory  of 
"  certain  persons.  1  am  ashamed  to  write  any 
"more,  lest  T  should  seem  to  distrust  your  pru- 
"  dence ;  and  will  add  therefore  but  one  thing  far- 


382  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.   58.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

"ther,  and  conclude.  We  have  sometimes  seen 
"  you  bear  prosperity  nobly,  with  great  honour  and 
"applause  to  yourself;  let  us  now  see,  that  you 
"  can  bear  adversity  with  the  same  moderation,  and 
"  without  thinking  it  a  greater  burthen  than  you 
"  ought  to  do  :  lest,  in  the  number  of  all  your 
"  other  virtues,  this  one  at  last  be  thought  to  be 
"  wanting.  As  to  myself,  when  I  understand  that 
"  your  mind  is  grown  more  calm  and  composed,  I 
"  will  send  you  word  how  all  things  go  on  here, 
"  and  what  is  the  state  of  the  province.      Adieu."^ 

His  answer  to  Sulpicius  was  the  same  in  effect 
with  w^hat  he  gave  to  all  his  friends ;  **  that  his 
"  case  was  different  from  all  the  examples  which 
"  he  had  been  collecting  for  his  own  imitation,  of 
"men,  who  had  borne  the  loss  of  children  with 
"  firmness ;  since  they  lived  in  times  when  their 
"  dignity  in  the  state  was  able  in  great  measure  to 
"  compensate  their  misfortune  :  but  for  me,"  says 
he,  ''  after  I  had  lost  all  those  ornaments  which  you 
"  enumerate,  and  which  1  had  acquired  with  the 
''  utmost  pajnsyl  have  now  lost  the  only  comfort 
*'  that  was  left  to  me.  In  this  ruin  of  the  repub- 
**  lick,  my  thoughts  were  not  diverted  by  serving 
"  either  my  friends  or  my  country  :  I  had  no  in- 
**'  clination  to  the  forum ;  could  not  bear  the  sig^ht 
"of  the  senate;  took  myself,  as  the  case  in  truth 
"  was,  to  have  lost  all  the  fruit  of  my  industry  and 
''  fortunes :  yet  when  I  reflected  that  all  this  was 
"  common  to  you,  arid  to  many  others,  as  well  as 
"to  myself;  and  was  forcing  myself  therefore  to 
"  bear  it  tolerably ;  I  had  still  in  TuUia,  somewhat 

Ep.  Fam.  4.  5. 


SECT.    VIII. 


CICERO.  383 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

"  always  to  recur  to,  in  which  I  could  acquiesce  ; 
"  and  in  whose  sweet  conversation  I  could  drop  all 
"  my  cares  and  troubles :  but  by  this  last  cruel 
**  wound,  all  the  rest,  which  seemed  to  be  healed, 
"  are  broken  out  a^ain  afresh  :  for  as  1  then  could 
"  relieve  the  uneasiness  which  the  republick  gave 
"  me,  by  what  I  found  at  home  ;  so  I  cannot  now, 
"  in  the  affliction,  which  I  feel  at  home,  find  any 
**  remedy  abroad  ;  but  am  driven,  as  well  from  my 
"  house,  as  the  forum  ;  since  neither  my  house  can 
"  ease  my  publick  grief,  nor  the  publick  my  do- 
"mestick  one."* 

The  remonstrances  of  his  friends  had  but  little 
effect  upon  him  ;  all  the  relief  that  he  found,  was 
from  reading  and  writing,  in  which  he  continually 
employed  himself ;  and  did  what  no  man  had  ever 
done  before  him,  draw  up  a  treatise  of  consolation 
for  himself;  from  which  he  professes  to  have  re- 
ceived his  greatest  comfort ;  '^  though  he  wrote  it, 
"  he  owns,  at  a  time  when,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
"  philosophers,  he  was  not  so  wise,  as  he  ought  to 
"  have  been :  but  I  did  violence,"  says  he,  "  to  my 
"  nature  ;  to  make  the  greatness  of  my  sorrow 
"  give  place  to  the  greatness  of  the  medicine ; 
"  though  I  acted  against  the  advice  of  Chrysippus, 
"  who  dissuades  the  application  of  any  remedy  to 
"  the  first  assaults   of   grief  .'f     In  this  work  he 

*  Ep.  Fara.  4.  6.  it.  Ad  Att.  12.  28. 

t  Feci,  quod  ante  rae  nemo,  ut  ipse  me  per  litteras  consolarer — 
affinuo  tibi  nullam  consolationem  esse  talem.  Ad  Att.  12.  14.  it. 
lb.  28. 

Quid  ego  de  consolatione  dicam  ?  quae  mihi  quidem  ipsi  sane  ali- 
quantum  raedetur,  ceteris  item  multura  illam  proruturam  puto.  De 
Div.  2.  1. 


:384  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 


A.  Urb.  708.      Cie.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

chiefly  iaiitated  Grantor,  the  academick,  who  had 
left  a  celebrated  piece  on  the  same  subject ;  yet 
he  inserted  also  whatever  pleased  him,  from  any 
other  author  who  had  written  upon  it  ;*  illustrat- 
ing his  precepts  all  the  way,  by  examples  from 
their  own  history,  of  the  most  eminent  Romans 
of  both  sexes,  w4io  had  borne  the  same  misfortune 
with  a  remarkable  constancy.  This  book  was 
much  read  by  the  primitive  fathers,  especially 
Lactantius  ;  to  whom  we  are  obliged  for  the  few- 
fragments  which  remain  of  it ;  for,  as  the  criticks 
have  long  since  observed,  that  piece,  which  we  now 
see  in  the  collection  of  his  writings,  under  the  title 
of  Consolation^  is  undoubtedly  spurious. 

But  the  design  of  this  treatise  was,  not  only  to 
relieve  his  own  mind,  but  to  consecrate  the  vir- 
tues and  memory  of  I'uUia  to  all  posterity  :  Nor 
did  his  fondness  for  her  stop  here,  but  suggested 
the  project  of  a  more  eflfectual  consecration,  by 
building  a  temple  to  her,  and  erecting  her  into  a 
sort  of  deity.  It  was  an  opinion  of  the  philoso- 
phers, which  he  himself  constantly  favoured,  and, 
in  his  present  circumstances,  particularly  indulged, 
•'that  the  souls  of  men  whereof  heavenly  extrac- 
"  tion  ;  and  that  the  pure  and  chaste,  at  their  dis- 


In  consolationis  libro,  quera  in  ineflio  (non  enim  sapientes  eramus) 
moerore  et  dolore  conscripsiraus  :  quodque  vetat  Chrysippus,  ad  re- 
centes  quasi  tumores  animi  reinedium  adhibere,  id  nos  Teciraus,  na- 
turaeque  vim  adtulimiis,  ut  rnagnitudini  iiiedicinae  doloris  magortudo 
concederet.     Tusc.  Disp.  4.  29. 

*  Crantorem  sequor.  Plin.  Praef.  Hist.  N. 

Neque  taraen  progredior  loiigius,  quain  mihi  doctissimi  homines 
concedunt,  quorum  scripta  omnia,  quaecunque  sunt  in  earn  senten- 
tiam,  non  legi  solum — sed  in  raea  etiara  scripta  transtuli.  Ad  Att. 
12.  21.  it.  22. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  385 

A.SUrb.  708.    Cic.    62.~C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

"  solution  from  tlje  body,  returned  to  the  foun- 
"tain  from  which  they  were  derived,  to  subsist 
"  eternally  in  the  fi  uition  and  participation  of  the 
"  divine  nature ;  whilst  the  impure  and  corrupt 
"  were  left  to  i^rovel  below  in  the  dirt  and  dark- 
"  ness  of  these  inferiour  regions."  He  declares, 
therefore,  "that,  as  the  wisdom  of  the  ancients 
"  had  consecrated  and  deified  many  excellent  per- 
"  sons  of  both  sexes,  whose  temples  were  tlien  re- 
"  mainino; ;  the  progeny  of  Cadmus,  of  Amphitry- 
"on,  of  Tyndarus  ;  so  he  would  perform  the  same 
"  honour  to  Tullia,  who,  if  any  creature  had  ever 
"deserved  it,  was  of  all  the  most  worthy  of  it.  I 
"  will  do  it,  therefore,  (says  he,)  and  consecrate 
"  thee,  thou  best  and  most  learned  of  women,  now 
"  admitted  into  the  assembly  of  the  gods,  to  the 
"  regard  and  veneration  of  all  mortals."* 

In  his  letters  to  Atticus,  we  find  the  strongest 
expressions  of  his  resolution,  and  impatience  to 
see  this  design  executed  :  "  I  will  have  a  temple," 
says  he,  "  it  is  not  possible  to  divert  me  from  it — 

*  Non  enira  omnibus  illi  sapientes  arbitrati  sunt  enndenri  cursum 
in  coelum  patcre.  Nam  vitiis  et  sceleribus  contaminatos  deprimi  in 
tenebras,  atque  in  coeno  jacere  dorueruut ;  castos  autein  animos, 
piiros,  integros,  incorniptos,  bonis  etiara  stiidiis  atqiie  artibiis  expo- 
litos,  leni  quodam  ac  facili  lapsu  ad  deos,  id  est,  ad  natuiara  sui  si- 
mi  lem,  pervolare.     Fragm.  Consolat.  ex  Lactantio. — 

Cum  vero  et  mares  et  ibeminas  eomplures  ex  hominibus  in  deo- 
rum  numero  esse  videamus,  et  eorum  in  urbibus  atque  agris-  augus- 
tissima  templa  veneremur,  assentiamur  eorum  sapieiitiae,  quorum  in- 
geniis  et  inventis  oranem  vitam  legibus  et  iQ«^titut  s  exrultam  con- 
stitutamque  habemus.  Quod  si  ullum  unquam  animal  consecran- 
dum  tuit,  illud  profecto  fuit.  Si  Cadmi,  aut  Amphytriouis  proge- 
nies, aut  Tyndari,  in  coelum  lollenda  Cama  fuit,  huic  idem  honos 
certe  dicandus  est.  Quod  quidenj  faciam  ;  teque  omnium  optimam 
doctissimamque,  approbanUbus  diis  ipsis,  in  eorum  coetu  locatam,  ad 
opinionem  omnium  raortaliura  consecrabo.  lb. — Vid.  Tusc.  Disp. 
1.  1.  c.  xi.  12.  30,  31, 

TOL.  ir.  19 


386  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equk. 

"  if  it  be  not  finished  this  summer,  I  shall  not 
"think  myself  clear  of  sjuilt — I  am  more  religious- 
"  ly  bound  to  the  execution  of  it,  than  any  man 
"  ever  was  to  the  performance  of  his  vow."*  He 
seems  to  have  desiii;ned  a  fabrick  of  great  magni- 
ficence; for  he  had  settled  the  plan  with  his  ar- 
chitect, and  contracted  for  pillars  of  Chian  marble, 
with  a  sculptor  of  that  isle  ;  where  both  the  work 
and  the  materials  were  the  .most  esteemed  of  any 
in  Greece.f  One  reason,  that  determined  him  to 
a  temple,  rather  than  a  sepulchre,  was,  that  in  the 
one  he  was  not  limited  in  the  expense,  whereas, 
in  the  other,  he  was  confined  by  law  to  a  certain 
sum,  which  he  could  not  exceed,  without  the  for- 
feiture of  the  same  sum  also  to  the  publick :  yet 
this,  as  he  tells  us,  w^as  not  the  chief  motive,  Ijut 
a  resolution,  that  he  had  taken,  of  making  a  pro- 
per apotheosis.J     The  only  difficulty  was,  to  find 

*  Fanum  fieri  volo,  neque  milii  erui  potest.  (Ad  Att.  12.  36.) 
Redeo  ad  Fanum,  nisi  hac  aestate  absolntum  erit — scelere  ine  libe- 
ratum  non  putabo.  (lb.  41.)  Ego  majore  religione,  quam  quisquam 
fuit  ullius  voti,  obstrictnin  puto.     lb.  43. 

t  De  Fano  ijlo  dico — neque  de  geilere  dubito,  placet  enira  mihi 
Cluatii.  (lb.  18.)  Tu  tamen  cum  Apella  Chio  confice  de  columuis. 
(lb.  19.)  Vid.  Plin.  Hist.  N.  36.  5,  6. 

I  Nunquani  mihi  venit  in  mentem,  quo  plus  insuratum  in  mo- 
numenium  esset.  quam  nescio  quid,  quod  lege  conceditnr,  tantun- 
dem  populo  dandum  esse:  quod  non  magnopere  moveret,  nisi  nescio 
quomodo,  axoyui  fortasse.  Nollem  illud  nl!o  nomine  nisi  Fani  ap- 
pellari.  (All.  12.  3.').)  Sepulcri  similitudinem  efFugere  non  tarn 
propter  poenam  legis  studeo,  quam  ut  maxima  asse^quar  ajroesas-;-,. 
lb.  36.  ^ 

This  fact  seems  to  confirm  what  the  author  of  the  book  of  W^isdom 
observes  on  the  origin  of  idolatry  ;  that  it  was  owing  to  the  fond 
affection  of  parents,  seeking  to  do  honour  to  their  deceased  chihJren. 
**The  father,"  says  he,  "oppressed  with  an  unexpected  grief  tor  the 
"sudden  death  of  his  child,  after  making  an  in;age  of  him,  began  to 
"worship  him  as  a  god,  though  he  was  but  a  dead  man,  and  enjoined 
"certain    rites  and    mysteries    to    his  servants    and    dependants.'* 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  397 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

a  place  that  suited  his  purpose :  his  first  thou<i;ht 
was,  to  purchase  certain  g;ardens  across  the  Tiber, 
which,  lying  near  llie  city,  and  in  the  publick 
view,  were  the  most  likely  to  draw  a  resort  of  vo-^ 
taries  to  his  new  temple:  "  he  presses  Atticus, 
''  therefore,  to  buy  them  for  him  at  any  rate,  with- 
''  out  regard  to  his  circumstances  ;  since  he  would 
"  sell,  or  mortgage,  or  be  content  to  live  on  little, 
"  rather  than  be  disappointed.  Groves  and  remote 
"  places,"  he  says,  "  were  proper  only  for  deities 
"of  an  established  name  and  religion;  but,  for  the 
"  deification  of  mortals,  publick  and  open  situa- 
"  tions  were  necessary,  to  strike  the  eyes,  and  at- 
"  tract  the  notice  of  the  people."  But  he  found 
so  many  obstructions  in  all  his  attempts  of  pur- 
chasing, that,  to  save  trouble  and  expense,  At- 
ticus  advised  him,  to  build,  at  last,  in  one  of  his 
own  villas  ;  to  which  he  seemed  inclined,  lest  the 
summer  should  pass  without  doing  any  thing :  yet 
he  was  irresolute  still,  which  of  his  villas  he  should 


(Wisd.  x\v.  15.)  Bnt  it  was  not  Cicero's  real  thought,  after  all,  to 
exalt  his  daughter  iuto  a  deity  :  he  knew  it  to  be  absurd,  as  he  often 
declares,  to  pay  divine  honours  to  dead  mortals ;  and  tells  us,  how 
their  very  publicans  had  decided  that  question  in  Boeotia  :  for,  when 
the  lands  of  the  immortal  Gods  were  excepted  out  of  their  lease,  by 
the  law  of  the  censors,  they  denied  that  any  one  could  be  deemed 
an  immortal  God,  wlia had  once  been  a  man;  and  so  made  the  land 
of  Amphiaraus  and  Trophoiiius  pay  the  same  taves  with  the  rest. 
(De  Nat.  Deor.  3.  10.)  Yet,  in  a  political  view,  he  sometimes  recom- 
mends the  worship  of  those  sons  of  men,  whom  their  eminent  ser- 
vices to  mankind  had  advanced  to  the  rank  of  inferiour  gods,  as  it 
inculcated,  in  a  manner  the  most  sensible,  the  doctrine  of  the  soul's 
immortality  :  (De  Leg.  2.  xi.)  And  since  a  temple  was  th.e  most 
ancient  way  of  doing  honour  to  those  dead  who  had  deserved  it,  (Plin. 
Hist.  27.)  he  considered  it  as  the  most  etiectual  method  of  perpetua- 
ting the  memory  and  praises  of  Tullia ;  and  was  willing  to  take  the 
benefit  of  the  popular  superstition,  and  follow  the  example  of  those 
ancients,  who  had  polished  and  civilized  human  life,  by  consecrating 
such  patterns  of  virtue  to  the  veneration  of  their  fellow  citizens. 
Vid.  Mongault,  Not.  1.  Ad  Att.  12.  18. 


388  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vii 


A.  Urb.  t08.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aetnil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

choose;  and  discouraoed,  by  reflecting  on  the 
change  of  masters,  to  which  all  private  estates 
^ere  exposed,  in  a  succession  of  ages;  which 
might  defeat  the  end  of  his  building,  and  destroy 
the  honour  of  his  temple ;  by  converting  it  to 
other  uses,  or  suffering  it  to  fall  into  ruins.* 

But  after  all  his  eagerness  and  solicitude  about 
this  temple,  it  was  never  actually  built  by  him  f 
since  we  find  no  mention  of  it  in  any  of  the  an- 
cient writers;  which  could  not  have  been  omitted, 
if  a  fabrick  so  memorable  had  ever  been  erected.f 
It  is  likely,  that  as  his  grief  evaporated,  and  hia 
mind  grew  more  calm,  he  began  to  consider  his 
project  more  philosophically  ;  and  to  perceive  the 
vanity  of  expecting  any  lasting  glory  from  such 
monuments,  which  time  itself,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  ages,  must  necessarily  destroy  :  it  is  certain, 

*  Sed  ineunda  nobis  ratio  est,  quemadmodunti  in  omni  mntatione 
dominorum,  qui  innumerabiles  fieri  possiint  in  infin  ta  posteritate — 
illud  quasi  conserratum  remanere  possit.  Kquidem  jam  nihil  egeo 
vectigalibns,  et  parvo  contentus  esse  possmn.  Cogito  iuterduni  irans 
Tibenra  hortos  aliquos  parare,  et  qiiidem  ob  banc  caiisam  maxima ; 
nihil  enim  video  qu<^  tarn  celebre  esse  posset.  (Ad  Att.  12.  19.) 
De  hortis,  etiam  atqne  etiam  te  rogo.  (lb.  22.)  Ut  saepe  Jocuti 
siimus,  commutationes  dominorum  reformido.  (lb.  36.)  Celebrita' 
tern  requiro.     lb.  37. 

f  Coelius  Rbodiginus  tells  ns,  that  in  the  time  of  Sixtus  the  4th, 
there  was  found  near  Rome  on  the  Appian  way,  over  against  the 
tomb  of  Cicero,  the  body  of  a  woman,  whose  hair  was  dressed  up  in 
network  of  gold,  and  which,  from  the  in^^cription,  was  thought  to  be 
the  body  of  Tullia.  It  was  entire,  and  so  well  preserved  by  spices, 
as  to  have  suffered  no  injury  from  time;  yet  when  it  was  removed 
into  the  city,  it  moulderf  d  aivay  in  three  days.  But  this  was  only 
the  hasty  <'onjecture  of  som*^  learned  of  that  time,  which,  for  want 
of  authority  to  support  it.  soon  vanished  of  itself;  for  no  inscription 
was  ever  produced  *o  confirm  it,  nor  has  it  been  mentioned,  that  I 
know  of.  by  auv  other  author,  that  there  was  any  sepulchre  of  Ci- 
cero on  the  Appian  way— vid.  Coel.  Rhod.  Lection,  antiq.  I.  3.  c.  24, 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  389 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cio.  62— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  IIL    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  £qwt. 


at  least,  that  as  he  made  no  step  towards  building 
it  this  summer,  so  Caesar's  death,  which  happened 
before  the  next,  2;ave  fresh  obstruction  to  it,  by 
the  hurry  of  atfairs  in  which  it  ensiaged  him  ;  and 
though  he  had  not  still  wholly  dropt  the  thoughts 
of  it,  but  continued  to  make  a  preparation,  and  to 
set  apart  a  fund  for  it,*  yet,  in  the  short  and  busy 
scene  of  life,  which  remained  to  him,  he  never  had 
leisure  enough  to  carry  it  into  execution. 

He  was  now  grown  so  fond  of  solitude,  that  all 
company  was  become  uneasy  to  him ;  and  when 
his  friend  Philippus,  the  father-in-law  of  Octavius, 
happened  to  come  to  his  villa  in  that  nei^^^^hbour- 
hood,  he  was  not  a  little  disturbed  at  it,  from  the 
apprehension  of  being  teazed  with  his  visits ;  and 
he  tells  Atticus,  with  some  pleasure,  that  he  had 
called  u])on  him  only  to  pay  a  short  compliment, 
and  went  back  again  to  Rome,  without  giving  him 
any  trouhle.f  His  wife  Publilia  also  wrote  him 
word,  that  her  mother  and  brother  intended  to  wait 
upon  him,  and  that  she  would  come  along  with 
them,  if  he  would  give  her  leave  ;  which  she  beg- 
ged in  the  most  earnest  and  submissive  terms  ;— 
but  his  answer  was,  that  he  was  more  indisposed 
than  ever  to  receive  company,  and  would  not  have 
them  come  :  and,  lest  they  should  come  without 
leave,  he  desires  Atticus  to  watch  their  motions, 
and   give   him  notice,  that  he  might  contrive  to 

*  Quod  ex  istis  fructnosis  rebus  receptum  est,  id  ego  ad  illud  faouin 
sepositura  putabam.     Ad  Att.  15.  Id. 

f  Mihi  adhuc  nihil  prius  fuit  hac  solitudine,  qiiam  vereor,  lie  Phi- 
lippus tollat  :  heri  enim  vesperi  venerat.     lb.  12.  16. 

Q,uod  eram  ventus,  non  obturbavit  Philippus  :  nam  ut  heri  me  sa- 
lutavit,  statim  Romam  profectus  est.     lb.  18. 


390  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  vm. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus-    Mag.  Equit. 


avoid  them.^  A  denial  so  peremptory  confirms 
what  Plutarch  says,  that  his  wife  was  now  in  dis- 
grace with  him,  on  account  of  her  carriage  to- 
wards his  daughter,  and  for  seeming  to  rejoice  at 
her  death  :  a  crime  which  in  the  tenderness  of  his 
affliction,  appeared  to  him  so  heinous,  that  he 
could  not  bear  the  thoughts  of  seeing  her  any  more  ; 
and,  though  it  was  inconvenient  to  him  to  part 
with  her  fortune  at  this  time,  yet  he  resolved  to 
send  her  a  divorce,  as  a  proper  sacrifice  to  the  ho- 
nour of  Tullia.t 

Brutus  likewise  about  this  time  took  a  resolution 
of  putting  away  his  wife  Claudia,  for  the  sake  of 
taking  Porcia,  Bibulus's  widow,  and  his  uncle  Cato's 
daughter.  But  he  was  much  censured  for  this  step  ; 
since  Claudia  had  no  stain  upon  her  character  ;  was 
nobly  born;  the  sister  of  Appius  Claudius  ;  and  near- 
ly allied  to  Pompey ;  so  that  his  mother  Servilia, 
though  Cato's  sister,  seems  to  have  been  averse  to 
the  divorce,  and  strongly  in  the  interests  of  Clau- 
dia, against  her  niece.  Cicero's  advice  upon  it 
was,  that  if  Brutus  was  resolved  upon  the  thing, 
he  should  do  ft  out  of  hand,  as  the  best  way  to  put 
an  end  to  people's  talking;  by  shewing,  that  it 
was  not  done  out  of  levity  or  complaisance  to  the 

*Publiliaad  me  scripsit,  matrem  suam  cum  Piihlilio  ad  me  ventii- 
ram,  et  se  una,  si  ego  paterer  :  orat  multis  et  supplicibus  verbis  ut 
liceat,  et  ut  sibi  rescribam rescripsi,  me  etiam  gravius  esse  affec- 
tum, quam  tum,  cum  illi  dixissem,  me  solum  esse  velle,  quare  nolle 

me  hoc  tempore  eam  ad  me  venire- te  hoc  nunc  rogo  ut  explores. 

lb.  32. 

f  This  affair  of  Publilia's  divorce  is  frequently  referred  to,  though 
with  some  obscurity,  in  his  letters  ;  and  we  find  Atticus  employed 
by  him  afterwards  to  adjust  with  the  brother  Publilius,  and  the  time 
and  manner  of  paying  back  the  fortune.  Vid.  Ad  Att.  13.  34.  47. 
16.2. 


S£CT.    YIII. 


CICERO.  391 


A.  Urb.  708.     Cic  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  IIL    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.   Mag.  Equit. 


times,  but  to  take  the  daughter  of  Cato,  whose 
naaie  was  now  hiii^hly  popular  :^  which  Brutus  soon 
after  complied  with,  and  made  Porcia  his  wife. 

There  happened  another  accident  this  summer, 
which  raised  a  i^reat  alarm  in  the  city  ;  the  surprising 
death  of  Marcellus,  wliom  Caesar  had  lately  par- 
doned. He  had  left  Mitylene,  and  was  come  as 
far  as  Piraeeus,  on  his  way  towards  Rome ;  where 
he  spent  a  day  with  his  old  friend  and  colieao;ue, 
Serv.  Sulpicius,  intending  to  pursue  his  voyage  the 
day  following  by  sea  ;  but  in  the  night,  after  Sul- 
picius had  taken  leave  of  him,  on  the  twenty-third 
of  May,  he  was  killed  by  his  friend  and  client, 
Magius,  who  stabbed  himself  instantly  with  the 
same  poignard  :  of  which  Sulpicius  sent  the  fol- 
lowing account  to  Cicero. 


Serv.  Sulpicius  to  M.  T.  Cicero. 

"  Though  T  know  that  the  news  which  I  am  go- 
-''  ing  to  tell  you  will  not  be  agreeable,  yet  since 
"  chance  and  nature  govern  the  lives  of  us  all,  I 
"  thought  it  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  wdth  the  fact, 
**  in  what  manner  soever  it  happened.  On  the 
"  twenty-second  of  May  I  came  by  sea  from  Epi- 
"  daurus  to  Piraeeus,  to  meet  my  colleague  Mar- 
"  celhjs,  and  for  the  sake  of  his  company,  spent 
"  that  day  w^ith  him  there.     The  next  day,  when  I 

*  A  to  expectosi  quid  de  Bnito  ;  quanquain  Nicias  confectum  pu- 
tabat,  sed  divortium  non  probari. — Ad  Att.  13.  9. 

Brutus  si  quid — curabis  ut  sciara.  Cui  quidem  quam  primum  agen- 
dum pu  to,  praesertira  si  statuit ;  sennunculum  enira  oinuera  aut  re- 
stinxerit  aut  sedarit.     lb.  10. 


392  THE    LIFE    OP  sect.  vni. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.  Mag.  Equit. 

"  took  my  leave  of  him,  with  design  to  go  from 
"  Athens  into  Boeotia,  to  finish  the  remaining  part 
"  of  my  jurisdiction,  he,  as  he  told  me,  intended  to 
'«  set  sail  at  the  same  time  towards  Italy.  The  day 
"'  following,  about  four  in  the  morning,  when  I  was 
"  preparing  to  set  out  from  Athens,  his  friend,  P. 
"  Postumius,  came  to  let  me  know  that  Marcellus 
"  was  stabbed  by  his  companion,  P.  Magius  Cilo, 
"  after  supper,  and  had  received  two  wounds,  the 
"  one  in  his  stomach,  the  other  in  his  head  near 
"  the  ear,  but  he  was  in  hopes  still  that  he  might 
"live;  that  Magius  presently  killed  himself;  and 
*'  that  Marcellus  sent  him  to  inform  me  of  the 
^'  case,  and  to  desire  that  I  would  bring  some  phy- 
♦'  sicians  to  him.  I  got  some  together  immediate- 
'^  ly,  and  went  away  with  them  before  break  of 
"  day  :  but  when  I  was  come  near  Piraeeus,  Aci- 
/'  dinus's  boy  met  me  with  a  note  from  his  master, 
"  in  which  it  was  signified,  that  Marcellus  died  a 
**  Utile  before  day.  Thus  a  great  man  was  mur- 
"  dered  by  a  base  villain ;  and  he,  whom  his  very 
"enemies  had  spared  on  the  account  of  his  dignity, 
^*  received  his  death  from  the  hands  of  a  friend. 
"  I  went  forwatd,  however,  to  his  tent,  where  I 
"  found  two  of  his  freedmen,  and  a  few  of  his 
*^  slaves ;  all  the  rest,  they  said,  were  fled,  being 
"  in  a  terrible  fright,  on  the  account  of  their  mas- 
*'  ter's  murder.  I  was  forced  to  carry  his  body 
"  with  me  into  the  city,  in  the  same  litter  in  which 
"  I  came,  and  by  my  own  servants,  where  I  pro- 
"  vided  a  funeral  fox  him,  as  splendid  as  the 
"  condition  of  Athens  would  allow.  I  could  not 
**  prevail  with  the  Athenians  to  grant  a  place  of 
"  burial  for  him  within  the  city ;  they  said,  that 
"  it  was  forbidden  bv  their  religion,  and  had  never 


lECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  393 


A.  Utb,  708.   Cic.  62.— C.  Jul,  Caesar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit.    ' 

"  been  indulged  to  any  man :  but  they  readily 
"  granted,  what  was  the  most  desirable  in  the  next 
"  place,  to  bury  him  in  any  of  their  publick  schools 
''  that  I  pleased.  I  chose  a  place,  therefore,  the 
*'  noblest  in  the  universe,  the  School  (f  the  Arade- 
"  my,  where  I  burnt  him ;  and  have  since  given 
"  orders,  that  the  Athenians  should  provide  a  marble 
"monument  for  him  in  the  same  place.  Thus  I 
'*  have  faithfully  performed  to  him,  both  when  liv- 
"  ino-  and  dead,  every  duty  Avhich  our  partnership  in 
"  office,  and  my  particular  relation  to  him,  required. 
"  Adieu.     The  thirtieth  of  May  from  Athens."* 

M.  Marcellus  was  the  head  of  a  family,  which, 
for  a  succession  of  many  ages,  had  made  the  first 
figure  in  Rome ;  and  was  himself  adorned  with  all 
the  virtues  that  could  qualify  him  to  sustain  that 
dignity,  which  he  derived  from  his  noble  ancestors. 
He  had  formed  liimself  in  a  particular  manner  for 
the  bar,  w4iere  he  soon  acquired  great  fame ;  and,  of 
all  the  orators  of  his  time,  seems  to  have  approached 
the  nearest  to  Cicero  himself,  in  the  character  of  a 
complete  speaker.  His  manner  of  speaking  was 
elegant,  strong,  and  copious ;  with  a  sweetness  of 
voice,  and  propriety  of  action,  that  added  a  grace 
and  lustre  to  every  thing  that  he  said.  He  was  a 
constant  admirer  and  imitator  of  Cicero  ;  of  the 
same  principles  in  peace,  and  on  the  same  side  in 
war;  so  that  Cicero  laments  his  absence,  as  the  loss 
of  a  companion  and  partner  in  their  common  studies 
and  labours  of  life.  Of  all  the  magistrates,  he  was 
the  fiercest  opposer  of  Caesar's  powder,  and  the 
most  active  to  reduce  it :  his  high  spirit,  and  the 


^Ep.  Fam.  4.  12. 

VOL.  II.  50 


394,  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  vin 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.   Caesar  Diet.  III.     M-  Aeiiiil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


ancient  glory  of  his  house,  made  hitn  impatient 
under  the  thou<>;ht  of  receiving  a  master  ;  and  when 
the  battle  of  Pharsalia  seemed  at  last  to  have  im- 
posed one  upon  them,  he  retired  to  Mitylene,  the 
usual  resort  of  men  of  learning  ;  tliere  to  spend  the 
rest  of  his  days  in  a  studious  retreat,  remote  from 
arms  and  the  hurry  of  war ;  and  determined  nei- 
ther to  seek  nor  to  accept  any  grace  from  the  con- 
queror. Here  Brutus  paid  him  a  visit,  and  found 
him,  as  he  gave  an  account  to  Cicero,  as  perfectly 
easy  and  happy  under  all  the  misery  of  the  times, 
from  the  consciousness  of  his  integrity,  as  the  con- 
dition of  human  life  could  bear ;  surrounded  with 
the  principal  scholars  and  philosophers  of  Greece, 
and  eager  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  :  so  that,  in 
departing  from  him  towards  Italy,  "  he  seemed," 
he  said,  *'  to  be  going  himself  into  exile,  rather  than 
"  leaving  Marcellus  in  it."* 

Magius,  who  killed  him,  was  of  a  family  whicti 
had  borne   some  of  the  publick  offices,  and  had 

*  Mihi,  inquit,  Marcelhis  satis  est  notns.  Quid  igitur  de  illo  judi- 
cas  ? — quod  habitur^  es  sjmilem  tui — ita  est,  et  vehenienter  placets 
3Vam  et  didicit,  et  omissis  caeteris  studiis.  id  egit  uniim,  seseque  quoti- 
dianis  commentationibus  acerrime  exercuit.  Ilaque  et  lectis  u'.  itur 
verbis  et  frequentibus ;  et  splendore  vocis,  dignitate  inotus,  fit  spe- 
ciosum  et  illustre,  quod  dicitur;  oirui'aque  sic  suppetunt,  ut  ei  nullam 
deesse  virtutem  oratoris  putein.     Brut.  367. 

DolebaiB,  patres  conscripti,— ilto  aemulo  atque  imitatore  studiorum 
nrieorura,  quasi  quodain  socio  a  ine  et  comite  distracto — quis  eniiu  est 
illo  aut  nobilitate,  aut  probitate,  aut  optimaruui  artiuiii  studio,  aut 
innocentia,  aut  ullo  genere  laudis  praestautior  ?  Fro  Marcel.  1. 

Noslri  enim  seusus,  ut  in  pace  semper,  sic  turn  etiara  in  belto  con- 
gruebant.     lb.  6. 

Qui  hoc  tempore  ipso — in  hoc  communi  nostro  et  quasi  fatal!  malo, 
con-^oletur  se  cum  conscientia  optimae  menlis,  turn  etiara  usnrpatione 
ac  renovatione  doctrinae.  Vidi  enim  Mitylenis  nuper  virum,  atque 
ut  Hxi,  vidi  plane  virum.  Itaque  cum  eum  antea  tui  similera  jn  di- 
cendo  viderim;  turn  vero  nunc  doctissimo  viro,  tibique  ut  intellexi, 
amicissimo  Cratippo,  instructum  omni  copia,  raulto  videbam  similio" 
rena.     Brut.  Ibid.  Vid.     Senec.  Consolat.  Ad  Heiv.  p.  79. 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  39i 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

himself  been  quaestor;^  and,  having  attached  him- 
self to  the  fortunes  of  MarcelJus,  and  followed  him 
through  the  wars  and  his  exile,  was  now  returning 
with  him  to  Italy,  hulpicius  gives  no  hint  of  any 
cause  that  induced  him  to  commit  this  horrid  fact  : 
which,  by  the  immediate  death  of  Magius,  could 
never  be  clearly  known.  Cicero's  conjecture  was, 
that  Magius,  oppressed  with  debts,  and  apprehend- 
ing some  trouble  on  that  score  at  his  return,  had 
been  urging  Marcellus,  who  was  his  sponsor  for 
some  part  of  them,  to  furnish  him  with  money  to 
pay  the  whole  ;  and,  by  receiving  a  denial,  was  pro- 
voked to  the  madness  of  killing  his  patron.f  Others 
assign  a  different  reason,  as  the  rage  of  jealousy, 
and  the  impatience  of  seeing  others  more  favoured 
by  Marcellus,  than  himself.J 

As  soon  as  the  news  reached  Rome,  it  raised  a 
general  consternation :  and,  from  the  suspicious  na- 
ture of  the  times,  all  people's  thoughts  were  pre- 
sently turned  on  Caesar,  as  if  he  were  privately  the 
contriver  of  it ;  and,  from  the  wretched  fate  of  so 
illustrious  a  citizen,  every  man  began  to  think  him- 
self in  danger :  Cicero  was  greatly  shocked  at  it, 
and  seemed  to  consider  it  as  the  prelude  of  some 
greater  evil  to  ensue ;  and  Atticus,  signifying  his 
concern  upon  it,  advises  him  to  take  a  more  particu- 

*  Vid.  Pigh.  Annal.  A.  U.  691. 

fQiianquam  nihil  habeo  quod  diibitem.  nisi  ipsi  Magio  quae  fucrit 
causa  aiTientiae.  Pro  quo  qnidem  etiam  sponsor  Sunii  factus  est. 
Ximiruin  id  fuit.  Solveudo  eniin  non  erat.  Credo  eum  a  Marcello  pe- 
tiisse  aliquid,  et  ilium,  ut  erat,  constantius  respondisse.  Ad  Att. 
13.  10. 

X  Indiguatus  aliquein  amicorum  ab  eo  sibi  praeferri.  Val.  Max. 
i).  11. 


tiQ6  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.    viii. 

A.  Uib.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  JrJ.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

lar  care  of  himself,  as  being  the  only  consular  sena- 
tor left,  who  stood  exposed  to  any  envy."^  But 
Caesar's  friends  soon  cleared  him  of  all  suspicion ; 
as  indeed  the  fact  itself  did,  when  the  circumstances 
came  to  be  known,  and  fixed  the  whole  guilt  of  it 
on  the  fury  of  Magius. 

There  appeared  at  this  time  a  bold  impostor,  who 
began  to  make  a  great  noise  and  fit>;ure  in  Italy,  by 
assuming  the  name,  and  pretending  to  be  the  grand- 
son of  Caius  Marius  :  but,  apprehending  that  Cae- 
sar would  soon  put  an  end  to  his  pretensions,  and 
treat  him  as  he  deserved,  he  sent  a  pathetick  letter 
to  Cicero,  by  some  young  fellows  of  his  company, 
to  justify  his  claim  and  descent,  and  to  implore  his 
protection  against  the  enemies  of  his  family  ;  con- 
juring him,  by  their  relation;  by  the  poem,  which 
lie  had  formerly  written  in  praise  of  Marius :  by 
the  eloquence  of  L.  Crassus,  his  mother's  father, 
whom  he  had  likewise  celebrated,  that  he  would 
undertake  the  defence  of  his  cause  :  Cicero  answer- 
ed him  very  gravely,  that  he  could  not  want  a  pa- 
tron, when  tiis  kinsman  Caesar,  so  excellent  and  ge- 
nerous a  man,  was  now  the  master  of  all ;  yet.  that 
he  also  should  be  ready  to  favour  him.f  But  Cae- 
sar, at  his  return,  knowing  him  to  be  a  cheat,  ba- 


*  Minime  miror  te  et  graviter  ferre  de  Marcello,  et  pliira  vereri  peri- 
culi  genera.  Q,iiis  enira  lioc  timeret,  quod  neqne  acciderat  antea,  uec 
videbatur  natiira  ferre,  ut  accidere  posset.  Omnia  igitiir  metuenda, 
etc.     Ad  Att.   13.  10. 

f  Heri— quidam  urbani,  nt 'videbantur,  ad  me  mandata  et  litteras 
attnlernnt,  a  C.  Mario,  C.  F.  C.  N.  multis  verbis  agere  mecum  per 
c«»guationem,  quae  mihi  secum  esset,  per  eum  Marium,  quern  scripsis- 
sem,  per  eloquentiam  L.  Crassi  avi  sui,  ut  se  delenderem.  Kescripsi, 
nihil  et  patrono  opus  esse,  quoniam  Caesaris.  propinqui  ejus,  onin.is  po- 
teMas  esset,  viri  optimi  et  hominis  liberalissimi :  me  tamea  ei  fautu- 
rum.     Ad  Att.  12.  49. 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  397 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cie.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.     M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

nished  him  out  of  Italy ;  since,  instead  of  being 
what  he  pretended  to  be,  he  was  found  to  be  only 
a  farrier,  whose  true  name  was  Herophihis.^ 

Ariarathes,  the  brother  and  presumptive  heir  of 
Ariobarzanes,  king  of  Cappadocia,  came  to  Rome 
this  year ;  and,  as  Cicero  had  a  particular  friend- 
ship with  his  family,  and,  when  consul,  had,  by  a 
decree  of  the  senate,  conferred  upon  his  father  the 
honour  of  the  regal  title,  he  thought  proper  to 
send  a  servant  to  meet  him  on  the  road,  and  invite 
him  to  his  liouse :  but  he  was  already  engaged  by 
Sestius,  whose  office  it  then  was,  to  receive  foreign 
princes  and  ambassadours  at  the  publick  expense  ; 
which  Cicero  was  not  displeased  with,  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  his  domestick  affairs :  "  he  comes,"  says 
he,  "  I  guess,  to  purchase  some  kingdom  of  Cae- 
"  sar,  for  he  has  not  at  present  a  foot  of  land  of 
"  his  own."t 

Cicero's  whole  time  during  his  solitude  was  em- 
ployed in  reading  and  writing  :  this  was  the  bu.-i- 
ness  both  of  his  days  and  nights :  "  it  is  incredible," 
he  says,  '*  how  much  he  wrote,  and  how  little  he 
"  slept  :  and  if  he  had  not  fallen  into  that  way  of 
"  spending  his  time,  he  should   not  have  known 


*  Heropliilus  equarius  medicus,  C.  Marinm  septiesConsulem  avum 
sibi  vindicaudo,  ita  so  cxtiilit,  ut  coloniae  veteranorum  coinpluies 
et  niiiuicipia  splend;«la,  collegiaque  fere  omnia  pationniii  adopta- 
rent — oaeteruin  decreto  Caesaiis  extra  Italiam  relo2;atus,  etc.  Val. 
Max.  9.  1,'). 

f  Ariarathes,  Ariobarzani  filiiis,  Romam  venit.  Viilf,  opinor.  reg- 
num  aliquod  eiuere  a  Caesare  :  nam.  quo  inodo  nunc  est,  pedcm  nhi 
ponat  ill  sno  non  habet.  Oninino  eum  !^estius  noster  parochus  piib- 
liciis  occupavit :  quod  qniriem  fa<  ile  patior.  Vernmianx  n  quod  ii:ihi, 
suraino  beneficio  meo,  magna  cum  iVatrihus  illius  nece^situdo  est,  in- 
vito eum  per  litteras,  ut  apud  me  diversetur.    Ad  Att.  13.  2 


398  THE    LIFE   OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.--C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

*'  what  to  do  with  himself."^  His  studies  were 
chiefly  philosophical,  which  he  had  been  fond  of 
from  his  youth,  and,  after  a  long  intermission,  now 
resumed  with  great  ardour ;  having  taken  a  reso- 
lution, to  explain  to  his  countrymen,  in  their  own 
language,  whatever  the  Greeks  had  taught  on 
every  part  of  philosophy,  whether  speculative  or 
practical :  "  For  being  driven,"  as  he  tells  us, 
"  from  the  publick  administration,  he  knew  no  way 
*'  so  effectual  of  doing  good,  as  by  instructing  the 
"  minds,  and  reforming  the  morals  of  the  youth ; 
^'  which,  in  the  license  of  those  times,  wanted  every 
"  help  to  restrain  and  correct  them.  The  calamity 
"  of  the  city,"  says  he,  "  made  this  task  necessary 
**  to  me :  since,  in  the  confusion  of  civil  arms,  I 
^'  could  neither  defend  it  after  my  old  way ;  nor, 
*'  when  it  w^as  impossible  for  me  to  be  idle,  could  T 
"  find  any  thing  better  on  which  to  employ  my- 
*'  self.  My  citizens  therefore  will  pardon,  or  rather 
"thank  me,  that,  when  the  government  was  fallen 
*'  into  the  power  of  a  single  person,  I  neither  whol- 
*«  ly  hid,  nor  afflicted  myself  unnecessarily  ;  nor 
"  acted  in  such^  manner  as  to  seem  angry  at  the 
"  man,  or  the  times ;  nor  yet  flattered  or  admired 
"  the  fortune  of  another,  so  as  to  be  displeased 
"  with  my  own.  For  I  had  learnt  from  Plato  and 
"philosophy,  that  these  turns  and  i evolutions  of 
"  states  are  natural ;  sometimes  into  the  hands  of 
"  a  ferv^  sometimes  of  the  many,  sometimes  of  one  : 
"  as  this  was  the  case  of  our  own  republick,  so 
**  when  I  was  deprived  of  my  former  post  in  it,  I 


'■''  Credibile  non  est,  quantum  scribam  die,  quin  etiara  noctibns. 
Nihil  eniin  sorani.     lb.  26. 

Nisi  mihi  hoc  venisset  in  nientem  scribere  ista  nescio  quae,  quo 
sreterem  me  non  haberem.     lb.  1.0. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  399 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  5S.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


"  betook  myself  to  these  studies,  in  order  to  re- 
"  lieve  my  mind  from  the  sense  of  our  common 
"  miseries,  and  to  serve  my  country  at  the  same 
"  time  in  the  best  manner  that  I  was  able  :  for  my 
"  books  supplied  the  place  of  my  votes  in  the  se- 
"  nate  and  of  my  speeches  to  the  people,  and  I 
*'  took  up  philosophy,  as  a  substitute  for  my  ma- 
"  nagement  of  the  state."^ 


He  now  published,  therefore,  in  the  way  of 
dialogue,  a  book  which  he  called  Hortensius,  in  ho- 
nour of  his  deceased  friend :  where,  in  a  debate 
of  learning,  he  did,  what  he  had  often  done  in 
contests  of  the  bar,  undertake  the  defence  of  phi- 
losophy against  Hortensius,  to  whom  he  assigned 
the  part  of  arraigning  it.f  It  was  the  reading  of 
this  book,  long  since  unfortunately  lost,  which 
first  injflamed  St.  Austin,  as  he  himself  somewhere 
declares,  to  the  study  of  the  Christian  Philosophy : 
and  if  it  had  yielded  no  other  fruit,  yet  happy  it 
was  to  the  world,  that  it  once  subsisted,  to  be  the 
instrument  of  raising  up  so  illustrious  a  convert 
and  champion  to  the  Church  of  ChrisLt 

*  Divin.  2.  2.— deFin.  1.3. 

f  Cohoitati  siimus,  iit  maxirae  potuinius,  and  philosophiac  stnJiiim 
eo  libi'o,  qui  est  iuscriptus,  Hortensius— de  Div.  2.  1. 

Nos  autem  universae  philosophiae  vituperatoribus  respondiraus  in 
Hortensio.     Tusc.  Dip.  2.  2. 

I  It  is  certain,  that  all  the  Latin  Fathers  made  great  use  of  Ci- 
cero's writings ;  and  especially  Jerome,  who  was  not  so  grateful  as 
Austin,  in  acknowledging  the  benefit ;  for,  having  conceived  some 
scruples  on  that  score  in  his  declining  age,  he  endeavoured  to  dis- 
courage his  disciples  from  reading  them  at  all ;  and  declared,  thaf 
he  had  not  taken  either  Cicero  or  Maro,  or  any  heathen  writer,  into 
his  hands  for  above  Jifteen  years :  for  which  his  adversary  Huffinus 
rallies  him  very  severely.  Vid.  Hieron.  Op.  Tom.  4.  par.  2.  p.  4U, 
it.  par.  1.  p.  288.  Edit.  Benedict.— 


400  THE  LIFE   OF  sect,  vhi 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic  62.— C.  Jul.  Cae'ar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


He  drew  up  also  about  this  time,  in  four  books, 
a  particular  account  and  defence  of  the  Philoso- 
phy of  the  Academy ;  the  sect  which  he  himself 
followed,  beini>;,  as  he  says,  of  all  others  the  most 
consistent  with  itself,  and  the  least  arroo;ant,  as 
well  as  most  elegant.*  He  had  before  published  a 
work  on  the  same  subject  in  two  books,  the  one 
called  Catulus,  the  oiheiLucullus  ;  but  considering 
that  the  argument  was  not  suited  to  the  characters 
of  the  speakers,  who  were  not  particularly  re- 
markable for  any  ^udy  of  that  sort,  he  was  think- 
ing to  change  them  to  Cato  and  Brutus  :  when  At- 
ticus  happening  to  signify  to  him,  that  Yarro  had 
expressed  a  desire  to  be  inserted  in  some  of  his 
writings,  he  presently  reformed  his  scheme,  and 
enlarged  it  into  four  books,  which  be  addressed 
to  Yarro,  taking  upon  himself  the  part  of  Philo,  of 
defending  the  Principles  of  the  Academy,  and  as- 
signing to  Yarro  that  of  Antiochus,  of  opposing 
and  confuting  them,  and  introducing  Atticus  as 
the  moderator  of  the  dispute.  He  finished  the 
whole  with  great  accuracy,  so  as  to  make  it  a 
present  worth;)^  of  Yarro  ;  ''and  if  he  was  not  de- 
*'  ceived,"  he  says,  "  by  a  partiality,  and  self-love, 
"  too  common  in  such  cases,  there  was  nothing 
''  on  the  subject  equal  to  it,  even  among  the 
"  Greeks."!     All  these  four  books,  excepting  part 


*  Qnod  genus  philosophaudi  minime  arrogans.  maximeque  ct  con- 
stans,  et  elegans  arbitrareiuur,  quatuor  Acadeinicis  libris  ostendi- 
mus.     De  Divin    2.  3. 

f  Ergo  illam  'Ajt*<r«^w»v,  in  qua  homines,  nobiles  i!!i  qnidein,  sad 
nuilo  raodo  phiiologi,  nimis  acute  loqnuntiir,  ad  Vanoneuj  transfera- 
mus — Caliilo  et  Luciillo  alibi  reponnmiis. — Ad  Au.   13.  12. 

Quod  ad  me  de  Varrone  srrip^eras,  totam  Academiam  ab-horai- 
nibus  nobilis>imis  absluli  ;  Iranstuli  ad  nostrum  sof;al<m  et  ex-duo- 
bus  libris  contuli  in   quatuor — libri   quidem  ita   exierunt,   (nisi  me 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  40i 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil,  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


of  the  first,  are  now  lost ;  whilst  the  second  hook  of 
the  first  edition,  which  he  took  some  pains  to  sup- 
press, remains  still  entire,  under  its  original  title  of 
Lucullus. 

He  published  likewise  this  year  one  of  the  no- 
blest of  his  works,  and  on  th:-^  noblest  subject  of 
philosophy,  his  treatise  called,  De  Finibus^  or  of  the 
Chief  Good  and  III  of  3Ian,  written  in  Aristotle's 
manner,^  in  which  he  explained,  with  o;reat  ele- 
gance and  perspicuity,  the  several  opinions  of  all  the 
ancient  sects  on  that  most  important  question  *"  It 
''is  there  required,"  he  tells  us,  ''  what  is  the  chief 
*'  end  to  which  all  the  views  of  life  ouoht  to  be  re- 
"  ferred,  in  order  to  make  it  happy  :  or  what  it  is 
"which  nature  pursues  as  the  supreme  good,  and 
"shuns  as  the  worst  of  ills."t  The  work  consists 
of  five  books:  in  the  two  first,  the  Epicurean  doc- 
trine is  largely  opened  and  discussed,  being  defend- 
ed by  Torquatus,  and  confuted  by  Cicero,  in  a 
conference,  supposed  to  be  lield  in  his  Cuman  Vil- 
la, in  the  presence  of  Tiiarius,  a  young  gentle- 
man who  came  with  Torquatus  to  visit  him.  The 
two  next  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  Sloicks,  assert- 
ed by  Cato,  and  opposed  by  Cicero,  in  a  friendly 
debate,  upon  their  meeting  actidently  in  lucul- 
lus's  library.     'J'he  fifth  contains  the  opinions  of 

forte  communis  ^tkeivJiat.  decipit)  ut  in  tali  genere  ne  apud  Graecos  qui- 
dera  qiiicqtiam  simile.     lb.   13.  vide  it.  lb.  16.  19. 

*  Quae  autem  his  temporibus  scripsi  ^ A^ta-Tiltxtiov   morem  habent— 
ita  confeci  qiiinque  libros  Trt^t  rtKav — lb.  19. 

f  Turn  id,  quod  his  libris  qiiaeritnr,  quid  sit  finis,  quid  extremum, 
quid  ultimum,  quo   sint  omnia  bene  vivendi,  recteqiie  fa(  ien.ii  consi- 
lia  referenda.     Quid  seqnatiir  nalura,  ut  suramum  ex  rebus  expeleu- 
dis;  quid  fugiat  ut  extremum  malorum.     De  Fiu.  1.  4 
VOL.    IT.  H} 


4m  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  viii» 

A.  Urb.  708.      Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

the  old  Academy,  or  the  Pcripateiicks.  explained  by 
Piso  in  a  third  dialogue,  supposed  to  be  held  at 
Atliens,  in  the  presence  of  Cicero,  his  brother 
ftuintus,  his  cousin  Lucius,  and  Alticus.  The 
criticks  have  observed  some  impropriety  in  this 
last  book,  in  making  Piso  refer  to  the  other  two 
dialogues,  of  which  he  had  no  share,  and  could  not 
be  presumed  to  have  any  knowledge.^  But  if  any 
inaccuracy  of  that  kind  be  really  found  in  this,  or 
any  other  of  his  works,  it  may  reasonably  be  ex- 
cused by  that  multiplicity  of  affiiirs,  which  scarce 
allowed  him  time  to  write,  much  less  to  revise  what 
he  wrote  :  and  in  dialogues  of  length,  composed 
by  piece-meal,  and  in  the  short  intervals  of  leisure, 
it  cannot  seem  strange  that  he  should  sometimes 
forget  his  artificial,  to  resume  his  proper  character, 
and  enter  inadvertently  into  a  part  which  he  had 
assigned  to  another.  He  addressed  this  work  to 
Brutus,  in  return  for  a  present  of  the  same  kind, 
which  Brutus  had  sent  to  him  a  little  before,  a  Trea- 
tise upon  Virtue.^ 

Not  long  after  he  had  finished  this  work,  he 
published  sfnot^ier  of  equal  gravity,  called  his  Tus- 
culan  Dispytalions,  in  five  books  also,  upon  as  many 
different  questions  in  philosophy,  the  most  impor- 
tant and  useful  to  the  happiness  of  human  life.  The 
first  teaches  us,  "how  to  contemn  the  terrours  of 
"death,  and  to  look  upon  it  as  a  blessing  rather 
"than  an  evil :"  The  second,  "  to  support  pain  and 
"  affliction  with  a  maqly  fortitude :"  I'iie  third,  "  to 
"  appease  all  our  complaints  and  uneasinesses  under 
"  the  accidents  of  life  :"  The  fourth, "  to  moderate  all 

*  Vid.  Praefat.  Davis  in  Lib  de  Finib.  +  De  Finib.  1.3. 


SECT.  vni.  CICERO.  403 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aeniil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

"  our  other  passions :"  The  Jiflh,  "  to  evince  the 
"  sufficiency  of  virtue  to  make  man  happy."  It 
was  his  custom,  in  the  opportunities  of  his  leisure, 
to  take  some  friends  with  him  into  the  country, 
where,  instead  of  amusing  themselves  with  idle 
sports  or  feasts,  their  diversions  were  wholly  spe- 
culative, tendino;  to  improve  the  mind  and  enlarge 
the  understanding.  In  this  manner  he  now  spent 
five  days  at  his  Tusculan  villa,  in  discussing  with  his 
friends  the  several  questions  just  mentioned  :  For, 
after  employing  the  mornings  in  declaiming  and 
rhetorical  exercises,  they  used  to  retire,  in  the  after- 
noon, into  a  gallery,  called  the  Academy^  which  he 
had  built  for  the  purpose  of  philosophical  confer- 
ences :  where,  after  the  manner  of  the  Greeks,  he 
held  a  school,  as  they  called  it,  and  invited  the  com- 
pany to  call  for  any  subject  that  they  desired  to 
hear  explained  ;  which,  being  proposed  according- 
ly by  some  of  the  audience,  became  immediately 
the  argument  of  that  day's  debate.  These  five 
conferences  or  dialogues  he  collected  afterwards 
into  writing,  in  the  very  words  and  manner  in  which 
they  really  passed,  and  published  them  under  the 
title  of  his  Tusculan  Disputations^  from  the  name  of 
the  villa  in  which  they  were  held.^^ 

He  wrote  also  a  little  piece,  in  the  way  of  a  fu- 
neral encomium,  in  praise  of  Porcia,  the  sister  of 

*  In  Tusciilano,  cum  essent  compliircs  mecmn  fainiliares — poiiere 
jubebani,  de  quo  quis  audira  vellet;  ad  id  auL  sedei.s  aiit  ambiiians 
disputabain.  Itaque  dierum  quiiiqnc  Scliolas,  ut  Graeci  appellant, 
in  totidem  libros  contuli.     Tuso.  Disp.  1.  4. 

Itaque  cum  anle  meridiem  dictioni  operam  dedissemus — post  me- 
ridiem in  acwiciniam  descendimus  ;  in  qua  dispulationem  habitam  non 
quasi  narnintes  exponimus,  sed  eisdem  fere  verbis  ut  actum  dis  puta- 
tumqueest.     lb.  2.  3.  3.  3. 


404  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,  vin 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 


Cato,  and  wife  of  Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  Caesar's 
mortal  enemy ;  which  shews  how  little  he  was  still 
disposed  to  court  the  times.  Varro  and  Lollius  at- 
tempted the  same  subject,  and  Cicero  desires  Atti- 
cus  to  send  him  their  compositions ;  but  all  the 
three  are  now  lost,  thouj^h  Cicero  took  the  pains  to 
revise  and  correc  t  his,  and  sent  copies  of  it  after- 
wards to  Domitius  the  son,  and  Brutus  the  nephew^ 
of  that  Porcia.* 

Caesar  continued  all  this  while  in  Spain,  pur- 
suino^  the  sons  of  Pompey,  and  providing^  for  the 
future  peace  and  settlement  of  the  province  ; 
wlience  he  paid  Cicero  the  compliment  of  sending 
him  an  account  of  his  success  with  his  own  hand. 
Hirtius  also  gave  him  early  intelligence  of  the  de- 
feat and  flight  of  the  two  brothers,  which  was  not 
disagreeable  to  him  ;  for,  though  he  was  not  much 
concerned  about  the  event  of  the  war,  and  ex- 
pected no  good  from  it  on  either  side,  yet  the 
opinion  which  he  had  conceived  of  the  fierceness 
and  violence  of  the  young  Pompeys,  especially  of 
the  elder  of  them,  Cnaeus,  engaged  his  W'ishes 
rather  for'^Cacsar.  In  a  letter  to  Atticus,  "  Hir- 
"  tius,  (says  he,)  wrote  me  word,  that  Sextus  Pom- 
"pey  had  withdrawn  himself  from  Corduba  into 
"  the  hither  Spain  ;  and  that  Cnaeus  too  was  fled, 
"  I  know  not  whither,  nor  in  truth  do  I  care  :"t 


*Lan<]ationem  Porciae  tibi  misi  correetam  :  ac  eo  properavi ;  ut  si 
forte  aiit  Doinitio  fiiio  acit  Bruto  miltert^tur,  haec  initteretur.  Id  si 
tibi  erii  cominodura,  niasrn(>pere  cures  velim  ;  et  veliin ;  M.  Varro- 
nis,  Lolliique  mittas  laudaiionem.     Ad  Att.  13.  48.  it.  lb.  37. 

I  Hirtin«!  ad  me  srripsit,  Sex.  Pompeiiim  Corduba  exisse.  et  fugis- 
se  in  Hispaniani  citeriorein  ;  Cnaeuui  lugisse  nescio  quo,  nequeenira 
euro.     Ad  Att.  13.  37, 


SECT.  viif.  CICERO.  405 


A.  Urb.  109.    Gic»  62.--C.  Jul.  Caeam-  Diet  IIL    M.  Aerail.  Lepidm.    IVfag.   Equit. 


And  this  indeed  seems  to  have  been  the  common 
sentiment  of  all  the  republicans,  as  Cassius  him- 
self, writing  to  Cicero  on  the  same  subject,  de- 
clares still  more  explicitly  :  '•  May  I  perish,  (says 
**  he,)  if  I  be  not  solicitous  about  the  event  of 
"  things  in  Spain,  and  would  rather  keep  our  old 
"  clement  master,  than  try  a  new  and  cruel  one. 
*'  you  know  what  a  fool  Cnaeus  is  ;  how  he  takes 
^^  cruelty  for  a  virtue  j  how  he  has  always  thought 
"  that  we  laughed  at  him  :  I  am  afraid,  lest  he 
"  should  take  it  into  his  head  to  repay  our  jokes, 
"  in  his  rustick  maimer,  with  the  sword."* 

Young  duintus  Cicero,  w^ho  made  the  campaign 
along  with  Caesar,  thinking  to  please  his  company, 
and  to  make  his  fortunes  the  better  among  them, 
began  to  play  over  his  old  game,  and  to  abuse 
his  uncle  again  in  all  places.  Cicero,  in  his  ac- 
count of  it  to  Atticus,  says,  "  there  is  nothing 
"new,  but  that  Hirtius  has  been  quarrelling  in  my 
"defence  with  our  nephew  Quintus,  who  takes 
"  all  occasions  of  saying  every  thing  bad  of  me, 
"and  especially  at  publick  feasts;  and  when  he 
"  has  done  with  me,  falls  next  upon  his  father : 
"  He  is  thought  to  say  nothing  so  credible,  as  that 
"  we  are  both  irreconcilable  to  Caesar  ;  that  Cae- 
"sar  should  trust  neither  of  us,  and  even  beware 
"  of  me :  This  would  be  terrible,  did  I  not  see 
"  tliat  our  king  is  persuaded  tliat  1  have  no  spirit 
"  left."t 

*  Peream,  nisi  sollicitus  sura ;  ac  malo  veterem  ac  clementera  do- 
rniniira  habere,  qnam  novum  et  cnideleiu  cxpeiiri,  Scis,  Cnaeus 
quani  sit  latuns  ;  scis.  qiiomodo  ciudelitatem  virtutera  putet ;  scis, 
quani  se  semper  a  nobis  derisum  putet.  .^ 

Vereor,  ue  nos  ruslice  giadio  velit  tiy]ifxvK%^iadii.     Ep.  Fam.  1.').  19. 

fNovi  sane  nihil,  ni<;i  Hirtinm  cum  Quinto  acerrime  pro  me  liti- 
gasse  ;  omnibus  cum  locis  I'acere,  maximeque  in  conviviisi  cum  mul- 


406  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.  M.  Aerail.  Lepidus.  Mag.  Equit. 

Atticus  was  always  endeavouring  to  moderate 
Cicero's  impatience  under  the  present  govern- 
ment, and  persuading  him  to  comply  more  cheer- 
fully with  the  times ;  nor  to  reject  the  friendship 
of  Caesar,  which  was  so  forwardly  offered  to  him : 
And,  upon  his  frequent  complaints  of  the  slavery 
and  indignity  of  his  present  condition,  he  took  oc- 
casion to  observe,  what  Cicero  could  not  but  own 
to  be  true,  "  that,  if  to  pay  a  particular  court  and 
"  observance  to  a  man  was  the  mark  of  slavery, 
"  those  in  power  seemed  to  be  slaves  rather  to  him, 
''  than  he  to  them.""^  With  the  same  view,  he  was 
now  pressing  him,  among  his  other  works,  to  think 
of  something  to  be  addressed  to  Caesar ;  but  Cicero 
had  no  appetite  to  this  task  ;  he  saw  how  difficult 
it  would  be  to  perform  it,  without  lessening  his 
character,  and  descending  to  flattery  ;  yet  being 
urged  to  it  also  by  other  friends,  he  drew  up  a  let- 
ter, w^hich  was  communicated  to  Hirtius  and  Bal- 
bus,'for  their  judgment  upon  it,  whether  it  was 
proper  to  be  sent  to  Caesar  ?  The  subject  seems  to 
have  been  some  advice  about  restoring  the  peace 
and  liberty  of  the  republick,^  and  to  dissuade  him 
from  the  PaYthfein  war,  which  he  intended  for,  his 
next  expedition,  till  he  had  finished  the  more  ne- 
cessary work  of  settling  the  state  of  thino;s  at  home. 
There  was  nothing  in  it,  he  says,  but  Vv^hat  might 
come  from  the  best  of  citizens.  It  was  drawn, 
however,  with  so  much  freedom,  that,  though  At- 


ta  de  rae,  turn  redire  ad  patrein  :  Nihil  autem  ab  eo  tarn  a.^n>7ri<rrm  di- 
ci,  quam  alieiiissiraos  iios  esse  a  Caesare  ;  fidera  nobis  habeudam, 
non  esse  ;  rae  vero  cavendura.  <:poy2sg3v«v>  nisi  viderem  scire  Regem,  me 
animi  nihil  habere.     Ad  Att.  13.37. 

*  Et  si  mehercule,  ut  tu  intelligis,  magis  mihi  isti  serviunt,  si  ob- 
fervare  servire  est.     Ad  Att.  13.  49. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  40t 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

ticus  seemed  pleased  with  it,  yet  the  other  two 
durst  not  advise  the  sending  it,  unless  some  passa- 
ges were  altered  and  softened,  which  disgusted  Ci- 
cero so  much,  that  he  resolved  not  to  write  at  all ; 
and,  when  Atticus  was  still  urging  him  to  be  more 
complaisant,  he  answered  with  great  spirit  in  two 
or  three  letters."* 

•  "  As  for  the  letter  to  Caesar,"  says  he,  "I  was 
*^  always  very  willing  that  they  should  first  read  it : 
"  for  otherwise,  I  had  been  wanting  in  civility  to 
"  them ;  and  if  I  had  happened  to  give  offence,  ex- 
*'  posed  myself  also  to  danger.  They  have  dealt 
"  ingenuously  and  kindly  with  me,  in  not  conceal- 
"  ing  what  they  thought  :  but  what  pleases  me  the 
*'  most  is,  that,  by  requiring  so  many  alterations, 
"  they  give  me  an  excuse  for  not  writing  at  all. 
"  As  to  the  Parthian  war,  what  had  I  to  consider 
"  about  it,  but  that  which  I  thought  would  please 
"  him  ?  for  what  subject  was  there  else  for  a  letter, 
''  but  tlaltery  ?  or  if  I  had  a  mind  to  advise,  what 
"  I  really  took  to  be  the  best,  could  I  have  been 
"  at  a  loss  for  words ?  there  is  no  occasion  theie- 
"  fore  for  any  letter  :  for  where  there  is  no  great 
"  matter  to  be  gained,  and  a  slip,  though  not 
"  great,  may  make  us  uneasy,  what  reason  is  there 
"  to  run  any  risk  ?  especially  when  it  is  natural  for 


*  Epistolam  ad  Caesareni  mitti  video  tibi  placere — miiii  qijidem 
hoc  idem  maxime  placuit,  (^t  eo  magis,  quod  nihil  est  in  ea  nisi  opiimi 
civis,  sed  ita  optinii,  ut  tempora,  quibus  parere  omnes  TrcKiliy-oi  pracci- 
piunt.  Sed  scis  ita  nobis  esse  visum,  ut  isti  ante  legeient.  Tu  igi- 
tur  id  curabis.  Sed  nisi  plane  intelliges  iis  plarerei  inittenda  noo 
est.     Ad  Att.  12.  51. 

De  epistola  ad  Caesarem,  KiK^u^t.  Atque  id  ipsum,  quod  isti  aiunt 
illuiu  scribere,  se,  nisi  constitutis  rebus,  non  iturum  in  Parthos.  idem 
ego  suadebani  in  ilia  epistola.     lb.  13.  31. 


408  THE  LIFE  OF  sect.  viu. 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.    62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit 

"  him  to  think,  that  as  I  wrote  nothing;  to  him  be- 
^' fore,  so  I  should  have  written  nothing;  now,  had 
"  not  the  war  been  wholly  ended  :  besides,  I  am 
"  afraid  lest  he  should  imatrine,  that  I  sent  this 
''  as  a  sweetner  for  my  Cato :  in  short,  I  was  hear- 
*'  tily  ashamed  of  what  I  had  written  ;  and  nothinor 
*'  could  fall  out  more  luckily,  than  that  it  did  not 
"  please."^ 

Again,  "As  for  w riting  to  Caesar,  I  swear  to 
"  you,  I  cannot  do  it :  nor  is  it  yet  the  shame  of  it 
"  that  deters  me,  which  ousjht  to  do  it  the  most  ; 
*'  for  how  mean  would  it  be  to  flatter,  when  even 
"  to  live  is  base  in  me  ?  but  it  is  not,  as  I  was  say- 
''  ini;,  this  shame  which  hinders  me,  thouiijh  I  wish 
"  it  did  ;  for  I  should  tlien  be,  what  I  ouo;ht  to  be  ; 
"  but  I  can  think  of  nothincr  to  write  upon.  As 
^'  to  those  exhortations,  addressed  to  Alexander, 
"  by  the  eloquent  and  the  learned  of  that  time,  you 
"  see  on  what  points  they  turn :  they  are  addressed 
•^  to  a  youth,  inflamed  with  the  thirst  of  true  ^lory, 
''  and  desiring  to  be  advised  how  to  acquire  it.  On 
"  an  occasion  of  such  dif^nity^  words  can  never  be 
"  wanting  ;  butVhat  can  1  do  on  my  subject?  Yet 
*'  I  had  scratched,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  block, 
"  some  faint  resemblance  of  an  ima2;e  :  but  because 
''  there  were  some  thino-s  hinted  in  it,  a  little  bet- 
"  ter,  than  what  we  see  done  every  day,  it  was  dis- 
"  liked :  I  am  not  at  all  sorry  for  it ;  for  had  the 
"  letter  gone,  take  my  word  for  it,  I  should  have 
''  had  cause  to  repent;  For  do  you  not  see  that 
"  very  scholar  of  Aristotle,  a  youth  of  the  greatest 
''  modesty,  after  he  came  to  be  called  a  king,  grow 

*  Ad  Att.  13.  27. 


SECT.    VIII 


CFCERO.  109 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.     Mag.  Equit. 

''  proud,  cruel,  extravao;ant ?  Do  you  imaoine,  that 
"  this  man,  ranked  in  the  processions  of  the  Jiods, 
''  and  enshrined  in  the  same  temple  with  Romulus, 
"  will  he  pleased  with  the  moderate  style  of  my 
"  letters  1  It  is  better  that  he  be  disgusted  at  my 
"  not  writing,  than  at  what  I  write :  in  a  word, 
"  let  him  do  what  he  pleases  ;  for  that  problem, 
"  which  I  once  proposed  to  you,  and  thought  so 
"  difficult,  in  what  way  I  should  manage  him,  is 
"  over  with  me:  and  in  truth,  I  now^  wish  more,  to 
"  feel  the  eflect  of  his  resentment,  be  it  what  it 
"  will,  than  I  was  before  afraid  of  it."^  "  I  heor 
"of  you,  therefore,"  says  he,  in  another  letter, 
''  let  us  have  no  more  of  this ;  but  shew  ourselves 
"  at  least  half  free,  by  our  silence  and  retreat."t 

From  this  little  fact,  one  cannot  help  reflecting 
on  the  fatal  effects  of  arbitrary  power,  upon  the 
studies  and  compositions  of  men  of  genius,  and  on 
the  restraint  that  it  necessaiily  lays  on  the  free 
course  of  good  sense  and  truth  among  men.  ft 
had  yet  scarce  shewn  itself  in  Rome,  when 
we  see  one  of  the  greatest  men,  as  well  as  the 
greatest  wits,  which  that  republick  ever  bred, 
embarrassed  in  the  choice  of  a  subject  to  write 
upon;  and,  for  fear  of  offending,  choosing  not 
to  write  at  all :  and  it  was  the  same  power 
which,  from  this  beginning,  gradually  debased 
the  purity  both  of  the  Roman  wit  and  language, 
from  the  perfection  of  elegance  to  which  Cicero 
had  advanced  them,  to  that  state  of  rudeness  and 

*  Ad  Att.  13.  28. 

t  Obsecro,  abjiciainiis  isfa  ;  et  semiliberi  saltern  simus  ;  quod  asse- 
qiiemur  et  tacendo,  et  latendo— lb.  31. 

TOL.    II.  52 


410  THE  LIFE  OF  «ect.   vim- 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  G2.— C.  Jul.  Cae-sar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equiu 

barbarism,  which  we  find  in  the  productions  of 
the  lower  empire. 

This  was  the  present  state  of  things  between 
Caesar  and  Cicero  ;  all  the  marks  of  kindness  on 
Caesar's  part ;  of  coldness  and  reserve  on  Cicero's. 
Caesar  was  determined  never  to  part  with  his 
power,  and  took  the  more  pains,  for  that  reason, 
to  make  Cicero  easy  under  it:  he  seems  indeed 
to  have  been  somewhat  afraid  of  him  ;  not  of  his 
engaging  in  any  attempt  against  his  life ;  but  lest, 
by  his  insinuations,  his  railleries,  and  his  authori- 
ty, he  should  excite  others  to  some  act  of  vio- 
lence :  but  what  he  more  especially  desired  and 
wanted,  was  to  draw  from  him  some  publick  tes- 
timony of  his  approbation ;  and  to  be  recommend- 
ed by  his  writings  to  the  favour  of  posterity. 

Cicero,  on  the  other  hand,  perceiving  no  step 
taken  towards  the  establishment  of  the  republick, 
but  more  and  more  reason  every  day  to  despair 
of  it,  grew  still  more  indifferent  to  every  thing 
else  :  the  restoration  of  publick  liberty  was  the 
only  conditfon  *bn  which  he  could  entertain  any 
friendship  with  Caesar,  or  think  and  speak  of  him 
with  any  respect :  without  that,  no  favours  could 
oblige  him  ;  since  to  receive  them  from  a  master, 
was  an  affront  to  his  former  dignity,  and  but  a 
splendid  badge  of  servitude  :  books  therefore  were 
his  only  comfort ;  for  while  he  conversed  with 
them,  he  found  himself  easy,  and  fancied  him- 
self free. Thus  in  a  letter  to  Cassius,  touching 

upon  the  misery  of  the  times,  he  adds,  "  What  is 
"  become  then,  you  will  say,  of  philosophy  ?  Why, 
"  yours  is  in  the  kitchen  ;   but  mine  is    trouble- 


sfcjci.  viii.  CICERO.  411 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesai-  Diet.  III.  M.  Aeinil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

''  some  to  me  :  for  I  am  ashamed  to  live  a  slave  ;  and 
"  fei;crn  myself  therefore  to  be  doing  something  else, 
*'  that  I  may  not  hear  the  reproach  of  Plato."^ 

During  Caesar's  stay  in  Spain,  Antony  set  for- 
ward from  Italy,  to  pay  his  compliments  to  him 
there,  or  to  meet  him  at  least  on  the  road  in  his  return 
towards  home :  but  when  he  had  made  about  half 
of  the  journey,  he  met  with  some  dispatches,  which 
obliged  him  to  turn  back,  in  all  haste,  to  Rome. 
This  raised  a  new  alarm  in  the  city  ;  and  especially 
among  the  Pompeians,  who  were  afraid  that  Caesar, 
having  now  subdued  all  opposition,  was  resolved, 
after  the  example  of  former  conquerors,  to  take 
his  revenge  in  cool  blood  on  all  his  adversaries ; 
and  had  sent  Antony  back,  as  the  properest  instru- 
ment to  execute  some  orders  of  that  sort.  Cicero 
himself  had  the  same  suspicion,  and  was  much  sur- 
prised at  Antony's  sudden  return;  till  Balbus  and 
Oppius  eased  him  of  his  apprehensions,  by  sending 
him  an  account  of  the  true  reason  of  it  :t  which, 
contrary  to  expectation,  gave  no  uneasiness  at  last 
to  any  body  but  to  Antony  himself.  Antony  had 
,  bought  Pompey's  houses  in  Rome,  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood, with  all  their  rich  furniture,  at  Caesar's 
auction,  soon  after  his  return  from  Egypt;  but 
trusting  to  his  interest  with  Caesar,  and  to  the  part 
which  he  had  borne  in  advancing  him  to  his  power, 

*  Ubi  igitur,  inqiiies,  pliilosopliia  ?  1\ia  quideiti  in  ciilina;  mea  rao- 
lesta  est.  Piidet  eiiim  servire.  Itaque  facio  me  alias  res  agere,  ne 
convicium  Piatonii;  audiam.     Ep.  Fam.  15.  18. 

f  Heri  cum  ex  aliorum  litteri?.  cognovisscm  de  Antouii  adveatu,  ad- 
miratus  sum  nihil  esse  in  tuis.     Ad  Att.  12.  IB. 

De  Antonio  Balbus  qjioqwe  ad  me  cum  Oppio  conscripsit,  idque  tibi 
placuisse,  ne  perturbarer.     Ulis  egi  gratias. — lb.  19. 


412  THE  LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.— C.  Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.   Mag.  Equit. 

never  dreamt  of  being  obliged  to  pay  for  them; 
but  Caesar,  being  disfyusted  by  the  account  of  his 
debauches  and  extravagancies  in  Italy,  and  resolved 
to  shew  himself  the  sole  master,  nor  suffer  any  con- 
tradiction to  his  will,  sent  peremptory  orders  to  L. 
Plancus,  the  praetor,  to  require  immediate  payment 
of  Antony,  or  else  to  levy  the  money  upon  his 
sureties,  accordinsi  to  the  tenor  of  their  bond.  This 
was  the  cause  of  his  quick  return,  to  prevent  that 
disgrace  from  falling  upon  him,  and  find  some 
means  of  complying  with  Caesar's  commands :  it 
provoked  him,  however,  to  such  a  degree,  that,  in 
the  height  of  his  resentment,  he  is  said  to  have  en- 
tered into  a  design  of  taking  away  Caesar's  life  ; 
of  which  Caesar  himself  complained  openly  in  the 
senate.^ 

The  war  being  ended  in  Spain,  by  the  death  of 
Cnaeus  Pompey,  and  the  flight  of  Sextus,  Caesar 
finished  his  answer  to  Cicero's  Cato,  in  two  books, 
which  he  sent  immediately  to  Rome,  in  order  to  be 
published.  This  gave  Cicero  at  last  the  argument 
of  a  letter  to  him,  to  return- thanks  for  the  great 
civility  with  wlfich  he  had  treated  him  in  that  piece ; 
and  to  pay  his  compliments  likewise,  in  his  turn, 
upon  the  elegance  of  the  composition.  This  letter 
was  communicated  again  to  Balbus  and  Oppius, 
who  declared  themselves  extremely  pleased  with  it. 


*  Appellatiis  es  de  pecnnia,  qnam  pro  domo,  prohortis,  pro  sectione 

dedebas — et  ad  te  et  ad  praedes  (nos  milites  inisit (Phil.  2.  29.) 

Idcirco  urbein  teriore  noi-tuinb,  ItaJiam  inultorum  dierum  inetu  per- 
turbasti — ne  L.  Plancus  praedes  tuos  venderet — (lb.  31.)  Qiiiu  his 
ipsis  temporibus  domi  Caesaris  percnssor  ab  isto  missus,  deprehensus 
.dicebatur  esse  rum  sioa.  l)e  quo  Caesar  in  senatu,  aperte  in  te  inve- 
iFeus,  questus  est — lb,  29, 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  413 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.-.C    Jul.  Caesar  Diet.  III.    M.  Aemil.  Lepidus.    Mag.  Equit. 

and  forwarded  it  directly  to  Caesar.  In  Cicero's 
account  of  it  to  Atticus,  '•  I  forgot,"  says  he,  '*  to 
<'  send  you  a  copy  of  what  I  wrote  to  Caesar :  not 
*'for  the  reason,  which  you  suspect,  that  I  was 
"  ashamed  to  let  you  see  how  well  I  could  flatter : 
"  lor  in  truth,  I  wrote  to  hini  no  otherwise  than  as  if 
"  I  was  writinor  to  an  equal ;  for  I  really  have  a  good 
"-  opinion  of  his  two  books,  as  I  told  you,  when  we 
<*  were  together ;  *^nd  w  rote  therefore,  both,  without 
"  flattering  him ;  and  yet  so,  that  he  will  read  no- 
*'  thing,  I    believe,  with  more  pleasure."* 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.    Coss.— Q.  Fabius  Maximus.    C.  Trebonius. 

Caesar  returned  to  Rome  about  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember; when,  divesting  himself  of  the  consulship, 
he  conferred  it  on  Q..  Fabius  Maximus,  and  C. 
Trebonius,  for  the  three  remaining  months  of  the 
year.f  Hi»  first  care,  after  his  arrival,  was  to  en- 
tertain the  city  with  the  most  splendid  triumph 
which  Rome  had  ever  seen :  but  the  people,  instead 


♦Conscripsi  de  his  libris  epistolam  Caesari,  quae  deferretur  ad  Do- 
labellam  :  sed  ejus  exeniplum  misi  ad  Balbnm  et  Oppium,  scripsique 
adeos,ut  tura  deferri  ad  Dolabellam  jnberent  meas  litteras,  si  ipsi  ex- 
emplum  probassent ;  ita  mibi  rescripserunt,  nihil  unquam  se  legisse 
melius.     Ad  Att.  13.50. 

Ad  Caesarem  quara  niisi  epistolam,  ejus  exerapluin  fus^it  me  tum 
tibi  mittere ;  nee  id  fuit  quod  suspicaris,  lit  me  pudeiet  tui — nee  me- 
heronle  scripsi  aliter,  ac  si  t^oc  ktov  ofxom  que  scriberem.  Bene  enim 
existlmo  de  illis  libris,  ut  tibi  coram.  Itaque  scripsi  et  atxcxajauTo?,  et 
tamen  sic,  ut  nihil  eum  existiraem  lecturum  libeutius.     lb.  /)!. 

t  Utroqoe  anno  binos  cousules  substitnit  sibi  in  ternos  novissimos 
menseg.     Suet.  J.  Cafe*.  76. 


414  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  viiu 

A  Urb.  708,    Cic.  62.— Coss.— Q.  Fabius    Maximus.    C.  Trebonius. 


of  admirinoj  and  applauding  it,  as  he  expected,  were 
sullen  and  silent ;  considering  it,  as  it  really  was,  a 
triumph  over  themselves ;  purchased  by  the  loss  of 
their  liberty,  and  the  destruction  of  the  best  and  no- 
blest families  of  the  republick.  They  had  before 
given  the  same  proof  of  their  discontent  at  the  Cir- 
censian  games ;  where  Caesar's  statue,  by  a  decree 
of  the  senate,  was  carried  in  the  procession  along 
with  those  of  the  gods :  for  they  -gave  none  of  their 
usual  acclamations  to  the  favourite  deities,  as  they 
passed,  lest  they  should  be  thought  to  give  them  to 
Caesar.  Atticus  sent  an  account  of  it  to  Cicero, 
who  says,  in  answer  to  him,  "  Your  letter  was 
"agreeable,  though  the  shew  was  so  sad — the  peo- 
"  pie  however  behaved  bravely,  who  would  not  clap 
"  even  the  goddess  Victory,  for  the  sake  of  so  bad 
"  a  neighbour."^  Caesar  however,  to  make  amends 
for  the  unpopularity  of  his  triumph,  and  to  put  the 
people  into  good  humour,  entertained  the  whole 
city,  soon  after,  with  something  more  substantial 
than  shews ;  two  publick  dinners,  with  plenty  of 
the  most  esteemed  and  costly  wines  of  Chios  and 
Falernum.f 

Soon  after  Caesar's  triumph,  the  consul  Fabius, 
one  of  his  lieutenants  in  Spain,  was  allowed  to 
triumph  too,  for  the  reduction  of  some  parts  of  that 
province  which  had  revolted :  but  the  magnificence 

*  Siiaves  tuas  Htteras  !  etsi  acerba  porapa— populum  vero  praecla- 
rum,  quod  propter  tain  malum, vicinum,  ne  Victoriae  quidera  plauditur. 
Ad  Att.  13.  44. 

f  Quid  non  et  Caesar  Dictator  triumphi  sui  coena  vini  Falerni  am- 
phoras,  Cliii  cados  in  convivia  distribuit  ?  idem  iu  Hispaniensi  trium- 
ph© Chium  et  Falernum  dedit.     Plin.  Hist.  14. 15. 

Adjecit  post  Hispaniensem  victoriam  duo  prandia.     Sneton.  38: 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  415 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic  62.— Coss.— Q.  Fabixis    IMaximus.    C.  Trebonius. 


of  Caesar's  made  Fabius's  triumph  appear  con- 
temptible ;  for  his  models  of  the  conquered  towns, 
which  were  always  a  part  of  the  shew,  being  made 
only  of  wood,  when  Caesar's  were  of  silver  or 
ivory,  Chrysippus  merrily  called  them  the  cases 
only  of  Caesar's  towns.^ 

Cicero  resided  generally  in  the  country,  and 
withdrew  himself  wholly  from  the  senate  :t  but,  on 
Caesar's  approach  towards  Home,  Lepidus  began 
to  press  him  by  repeated  letters,  to  come  and  give 
them  his  assistance ;  assuring  him,  that  both  he  and 
Caesar  would  take  it  very  kindly  of  him.  He 
could  not  guess,  for  what  particular  service  they 
wanted  him,  except  the  dedication  of  some  temple, 
to  which  the  presence  of  three  augurs  was  neces- 
sary.J  But  whatever  it  was,  as  his  friends  had  long 
been  urginjj^  the  same  advice,  and  persuading  him 
to  return  to  publick  affairs,  he  consented  at  last,  to 
quit  his  retirement  and  come  to  the  city  ;  where, 
soon  after  Caesar's  arrival,  he  had  an  opportunity 
of  employing  his  authority  and  eloquence,  where 
he  exerted  them  always  with  the  greatest  pleasure, 
in  the  service  and  defence  of  an  old  friend,  king 
Deiotarus. 


*  Ut  Chrysippus,  cum  in  triumpho  Caesaris  eboreaoppidaessent 
translata,  et  post  dies  paucos  Fabii  iMaxiiui  lignea,  thccas  esse  oppido- 
rum  Caesaris  dixit.     Quintil.  6.  3.     Diu,  234. 

f  Cum  his  temporibus  noii  sane  in  senatum  ventitarem — Ep.  Fam. 
13.  77. 

I  Ecce  tibi.  erat  Lepidus,  ut  veniara.  Opinor  augures  nil  habere 
ad  tempium  efiandum.     Ad  Alt.  13.  42. 

Lepidus  ad  me  heri — litteras  misit.  Rogat  magnopere  ut  sim  Ka- 
lend.  in  seuatu,  me  et  sibi  et  Caesari  vehementer  gratum  esse  factu- 
rum — lb.  47. 


416  THE   LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 


A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.    Coss.— Q.  Fabius  Maximus.    C.  Trebonius. 

This  prince  had  already  been  deprived  by  Cae- 
sar of  part  of  his  dominions,  for  his  adherence  to 
Pompey,  and  was  now  in  danger  of  losing  the  rest, 
from  an  accusation  preferred  against  him  by  his 
grandson,  of  a  design  pretended  to  have  been  form- 
ed by  him  against  Caesar's  life,  when  Caesar  was 
entertained  at  his  house,  four  years  before,  on 
his  return  from  Egypt.  The  charge  was  ground- 
less and  ridiculous  ;  but,  under  his  present  dis- 
grace, any  charge  was  sufficient  to  ruin  him  ;  and 
Caesar's  countenancing  it  so  far,  as  to  receive  and 
hear  it,  shewed  a  strong  prejudice  against  the  king; 
and  that  he  wanted  only  a  pretence  for  stripping 
him  of  all  that  remained  to  him.  Brutus  likewise 
interested  himself  very  warmly  in  the  same  cause ; 
and  when  he  went  to  meet  Caesar,  on  his  road 
from  Spain,  made  an  oration  to  him  at  Nicaea,  in 
favour  of  Deiotarus,  with  a  freedom  which  start- 
led Caesar,  and  gave  him  occasion  to  reflect,  on 
what  he  had  not  perceived  so  clearly  before,  the 
invincible  fierceness  and  vehemence  of  Brutus's 
temper/^  The  present  trial  was  held  in  Caesar's 
house  ;  wh^re  /]icero  so  manifestly  exposed  the 
malice  of  the  accuser,  and  the  innocence  of  the  ac- 
cused, that  Caesar,  being  determined  not  to  acquit, 
yet  ashamed  to  condemn  him,  chose  the  expedient 
of  reserving  his  sentence  to  farther  deliberation, 
till  he  should  go  in  person  into   the  east,  and  in- 


=^  Ad  Att.  14.  1.  The  Jesuits,  Catron  and  Rouille,  take  Nicaea, 
where  Brutus  made  this  speech,  to  be  the  capital  of  Bithynia,  Deio- 
tarus's  kingdom  ;  but  it  was  a  city  on  the  Ligurian  coast,  still  called 
Nice,  where  Brutus  met  Caesar  on  his  last  return  from  Spain,  and 
when  he  was  not  able  to  prevail  for  Deiotarus,  Cicero  was  forced  to 
undertake  the  cause  as  soon  as  Caesar  came  to  Rome.  Vid.  Hist 
Tom.  17.  p.  91.  note. 


^ECT.  VIII.  '  CICERO.  417 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.    Coss.— Q.  Fabius  Maximus.    C.  Trebonius, 

form  himself  of  the  whole  affair  upon  the  spot. 
Cicero  says,  *'  that  Deiotarus,  neither  present  nor 
"  absent,  could  ever  obtain  any  favour  or  equity 
"  from  Caesar :  and  that  as  oft  as  he  pleaded  for 
"him,  which  he  was  always  ready  to  do,  he  could 
'*  never  persuade  Caesar,  to  think  any  thing  rea- 
"  sonable  that  he  asked  for  him."*  He  sent  a  copy 
of  his  oration  to  the  king;  and,  at  Dolabella's 
request,  gave  another  likewise  to  him :  excusing 
it,  as  a  trifling  performance,  and  hardly  worth 
transcribing ;  but  **  I  had  a  mind,"  says  he,  "  to 
''make  a  slight  present  to  my  old  friend  and  host, 
''  of  coarse  stuff  indeed,  yet  such  as  his  prescRts 
*'  usually  are  to  me."t 

Some  little  time  after  this  trial,  Caesar,  to  shew 
his  confidence  in  Cicero,  invited  himself  to  spend 
a  day  with  him,  at  his  house  in  the  country  ;  and 
chose  the  third  day  of  the  Saturnalia  for  his  visit; 
a  season  always  dedicated  to  mirth  and  feasting 
among  friends  and  relations.J  Cicero  gives  Atti- 
cus  the  following  account  of  the  entertainment, 
and  how  the  day  passed  between  them.  ''  O  this 
"  guest,"  says  he,  *'  whom  I  so  much  dreaded  ?  yet 

*  Quis  enim  ciiiquam  iniraicitior,  quam  Deiotaro  Caesar  ? — a  quo 
nee  praesens,  nee  absens  rex  Deiotarus  quidquam  aeqni  boni  impe- 
travit — ille  uunquam,  semper  enim  abseuti  affui  Deiotaro,  quicquam 
sibi,  quod  nos  pro  illo  postularemus,  aeqnum  dixit  videri.  Philip. 
2.  37. 

f  Oratiiinculam  pro  Deiotaro,  quam  requirebas tibi  niisi.  Quara 

velim  sic  legas,  ut  causam  tenuem  et  inopem.  nee  scriptioue  magno 
opere  diguam.  Sed  ego  hospiti  veteri  et  amico  niuniisi-uhim  millere 
volui  lovidense,  crasso  filo,  cujusmodi  ipsius  solent  esse  muuera.  I£p. 
Fara.  9.  12. 

I  This  festival,  after  Caesar's  reformation  of  the  kalendar,  began 
on  the  17th  of  December,  and  lasted  three  days.  Alacrob.  hsaturo 
].   X. 

VOL.  IT.  5:^ 


418  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.   vhi. 

A.  Urb.  708,    Cic.  62.    Coss.— Q.  Fabius  Maximus.    C.  Trebonius. 

*'  I  had  no  reason  to  repent  of  him  :  for  he  was 
"well  pleased  with  his  reception.  When  he  came 
"  the  evening  before,  on  the  eighteenth,  to  my 
'''  neighbour  Philip's,  the  house  was  so  crowded 
"  with  soldiers,  that  there  was  scarce  a  room  left 
"  empty  for  Caesar  to  sup  in  :  there  were  about  two 
"  thousand  of  them  :  which  gave  me  no  small  pain 
''  for  the  next  day  :  but  Barba  Cassius  relieved  me ; 
'•  for  he  assigned  me  a  guard,  and  made  the  rest 
"  encamp  in  the  field  :  so  that  my  house  was  clear. 
"  On  the  nineteenth,  he  staid  at  Philip's  till  one  in 
"  the  afternoon  ;  but  saw  nobody  ;  was  settling  ac- 
"  counts,  I  guess,  with  Balbus ;  then  took  a  walk 
'*  on  the  shore  ;  bathed  after  two  ;  heard  the  verses 
"  on  Mamurra  ;^  at  which  he  never  changed  coun- 
"  tenance ;  was  rubbed,  anointed,  sat  down  to  ta- 
"ble.  Having  taken  a  vomit  just  before,  he  eat 
"  and  drank  freely,  and  was  very  chearful :  f  the 
"  supper  was  good  and  well  served  : 

*  Mamurra  was  a  Roman  knight,  and  general  of  the  artillery  to 
Caesar  in  Gaul ;  where  he  raised  an  immense  fortune,  and  is  said  to 
have  heen  the  first  man  in  tioiue  who  incrusted  his  house  with  mar- 
ble, and  made  all  his  pillars  of  solid  'marble.  (Plin.  Hist.  36.  6.) 
He  was  severely  lasffed,  together  with  Caesar  himself,  for  his  exces- 
sive luxury,  and  more  infamous  vices,  by  CJatullus ;  whose  verses  are 
still  extant,  and  thtj  same  probably  that  Cicero  here  refers  to,  as  be- 
ing first  read  to  Caesar  at  his  house.     Vu\.  Catull.  27.  55, 

The  reader  perhaps  will  not  readily  understand  the  time  and  man- 
ner of  Caesiar's  passing  from  Philip's  house  to  Cicero's  in  this  short 
account  of  it  :  but  it  must  be  remembered,  that  their  villas  were 
adjoining  to  each  other  on  the  Formian  coast,  near  Cajeta ;  so  that 
wnen  Caesar  came  out  of  Philip's  at  one,  he  took  a  walk  on  the  shore 
for  about  an  hour,  and  then  entered  into  Cicero's;  where  the  bath 
was  prepared  for  him,  and  in  f)athing  he  heard  Catullus's  verses;  not 
produced  by  Cicero,  for  that  vi^ould  not  have  been  agreeable  to  good 
manners,  but  by  some  of  his  own  friends,  who  attended  him,  and 
who  knew  his  desire  to  see  every  thing  that  was  published  against 
him,  as  well  as  his  easiness  in  slighting  or  forgiving  ]t. 

f  The  custom  of  taking  a  vomit  both  iminediately  before  and  after 
meals,  wiiich  (.'icero  mentions  Caesar  to  have  done  on  different  occa- 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  419 


A.  Urb.  708.     Cic  62.    Coss.— Q.  Fabius  Maxinuis.    C.  Trebonius. 

"  But  our  discourse  at  table  as  we  eat, 

•'For  taste  and  seasouing  still  excell'd  our  meat.* 

"  Besides  Caesar's  labia,  his  friends  were  plentiful- 
"  ly  provided  for  in  three  other  rooms  ;  nor  was 
"  there  any  thing  vvanting^  to  his  fieedmen  of  lower 
"  rank  ;  and  his  slaves ;  but  the  better  sort  were 
"  elegantly  treated.  In  a  word,  I  acquitted  my- 
"  self  like  a  man  :  yet  he  is  not  a  guest  to  whom 
"  one  would  say  at  parting,  pray  call  upon  me 
** again,  as  you  return:  once  is  enough:  we  had 
**nota  word  on  business,  but  many  on  points  of 
"  literature :  in  short  he  was  delighted  with  his  en- 
"  tertahiment,  and  passed  the  day  agreeably.  He 
"talked  of  spending  one  day  at  Puteoli;  another 
"  at  Baiae  :  thus  you  see  the  manner  of  my  re- 
"  ceiving  him ;  somewhat  troublesome  indeed,  but 
"  not  uneasy  to  me.  I  shall  stay  here  a  little  long- 
''er,  and  then  to  Tusculam.  As  he  passed  by 
"  Dolabella's  villa,  his  troops  marched  close  by  his 


sions,  (pro.  Deiot.  7.)  was  very  common  with  the  Romans,  and  used 
by  them  as  an  instrument  both  of  their  luxury,  and  of  their  health : 
"  they  vomit."  says  Seneca,  "that  they  may  eat,  and  eat  that  they 
"  may  vomit."  (Cousol.  ad  Helo.  9.)  By  this  evacuation  before 
eating,  they  were  prepared  to  eat  more  plentifully ;  and  by  emptying 
themselves  presently  after  it,  prevented  any  hurt  from  repletion. 
Thus  Vitellius,  who  was  a  famous  glutton,  is  said  to  have  preserved 
his  life  by  constant  vomits,  while  he  destroyed  all  his  companions, 
who  did  not  use  the  same  caution  :  (Sneton.  12.  Dio.  G5.  734.)  And 
the  practice  was  thought  so  effectual  for  strengthening  the  constitu- 
tion, that  it  was  the  constant  regimen  of  all  tJie  Athletae ;  or  the 
professed  wrestlers,  trained  tor  the  publick  shews,  in  order  to  make 
them  more  robust.  So  that  Caesar's  vomiting  before  dinner  was  a 
sort  of  compliment  to  Cicero,  as  it  intimated  a  re^olution  to  pass  the 
day  cheerfully,  and  to  eat  and  to  drink  freely  with  him. 

*  This  is  a  citation  from  Luciliii>,  of  an  hexameter  verse,  with  part 
of  a  second,  which  is  not  distinguished  from  the  text,  in  the  editions 
of  Cicero's  Letters. 

Sed  bene  cocto  et  condito  sermone  bono,  et  si  qvaeris  libcnter. 


420  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.    Coss.—Q.  Pabius  Maximus.    C.  Trebonius. 

'*  horse's  side,  on  the  rii^ht  and  left ;  which  was  done 
**  no  where  else.     I  had  this  from  Nicias."* 

On  the  last  of  December,  when  the  consul  Tre- 
bonius was  abroad,  his  colleague  Q.  Fabius  died 
suddenly  ;  and  his  death  being  declared  in  the 
morning,  C.  CaniniusRebilus  was  named  by  Caesar 
to  the  vacancy  at  one  in  the  afternoon ;  whose 
office  was  to  continue  only  through  the  remaining 
part  of  that  day.  This  wanton  profanation  of  the 
sovereign  dignity  of  the  empire  raised  a  general  in- 
dignation in  the  city  ;  and  a  consulate  so  ridiculous 
gave  birth  to  much  raillery,  and  many  jokes  which 
are  transmitted  to  us  by  the  ancients  ;t  of  which 
Cicero,  who  was  the  chief  author  of  them,  gives  us 
the  following  specimen,  in  his  own  account  of  the 
fact. 


Cicero  to  Curius. 

"  I  no  longer  either  advise  or  desire  you  to  come 
"  home  to  us,  but  want  to  fly,  some  whither  myself, 
"  where  I  may  hear  neither  the  name  nor  the  acts  of 
"  these  sons  of  Pelops.  It  is  incredible  how  meanly  I 
"think of  myself,  for  being  present  at  these  trans- 
factions.  You  had  surely  an  early  foresight  of 
*'  what  was  coming  on,  when  you  ran  away  from  this 
"  place  :  for  though  it  be  vexatious  to  hear  of  such 
^'things,  yet  that  is  more  tolerable  than  to  see  them. 
"  It  is  w  ell  that  you  were  not  in  the  field,  when  at 
"  seven  in  the  morning,  as  they  were  proceeding  to 
"  an  election  of  quaestors,  the  chair  of  Q.  Maxi- 

*  Ad  Att.  13.  52.  t  Macrob.  Saturn.  2.  3.     Dio.  p.  236 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  421 


A.  Urtk  f08.    Cic  62.    Cost.~4|.  Eabtus  Maximus.    €.  TrebMt^s. 


"  mus,  wham  they  called  consul,*  was  set  in  its  place : 
"but,  his  death  bein^^  immediately  proclaimed,  it 
"  was  removed  ;  and  Caesar,  thous^h  he  had  taken 
"the  auspices  for  an  assembly  of  ihe  tribes,  chang- 
"  ed  it  to  an  assembly  of  the  centuries ;  and,  at  one 
"in  the  afternoon,  declared  a  new  consul,  who  was 
"  to  govern  till  one  the  next  mornino;.  T  would  have 
"  you  to  know,  therefore,  that  whilst  Caninius  was 
"  consul,  nobody  dined  ;  and  that  there  was  no  crime 
"  committed  in  his  consulship,  for  he  was  so  won- 
*'  derfully  vigilant,  that  through  his  whole  adminis- 
"  tration  he  never  slept.  These  things  seem  ridicu- 
"  lous  to  you,  who  were  absent,  but  were  you  to  see 
*'  them,  you  would  hardly  refrain  from  tears.  What 
"if  I  should  tell  you  the  rest  ?  For  there  are  num- 
"  berless  facts  of  the  same  kind ;  which  I  could 
"  never  have  borne,  if  I  had  not  taken  refuge  in  the 
"  port  of  Philosophy,  with  our  friend  Atticus,  the 
"  companion  and  partner  of  ray  studies,  &c."t 

Caesar  had  so  many  creatures  and  dependents, 
who  expected  the  honour  of  the  consulship  from 
him,  as  the  reward  of  their  services,  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  oblige  them  all  in  the  regular  way,  so 
that  he  was  forced  to  contrive  the  expedient  of  split- 
ting it,  as  it  were,  into  parcels,  and  conferring  it  for 
a  few  months,  or  weeks,  or  even  days,  as  it  happen- 
ed to  suit  his  conv  enience  :  and  as  the  thing  itself 
was  now  but  a  name,  without  any  real  power,  it  was 


*  Cicero  would  not  allow  a  consul  of  three  months,  so  irregularly 
chosen,  to  be  properly  called  a  consul  :  nor  did  the  people  themselves 
acknowledge  him  :  for,  as  Suetonius  tells  us,  [in  J.  Caes.  80.]  when, 
upon  Fabius's  entrance  into  the  theatre,  his  officers,  arcordinglo  cus- 
tom, proclaimed  his  presence,  and  ordered  the  people  to  make  way  for 
the  consult  the  whole  assembly  cried  out,  he  is  no  consul. 

I  Ep.  Fam.  7.  30. 


422  THE  LIFE   OF  sect.  viii. 


A,  Urb.  708.    Cic.  62.    Coss.— Q.  Fabius  Maximus.    C.  Trebonius. 


of  little  moment  for  wliat  term  it  was  granted ; 
since  the  shortest  gave  the  same  privilege  with  the 
longest,  and  a  man  once  declared  consul,  enjoyed 
ever  after  the  rank  and  character  of  a  consular 
senator.^ 


A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

On  the  opening  of  the  new  year,  Caesar  entered 
into  his  fifth  consulship,  in  partnership  with  M.  An- 
tony :  he  had  promised  it  all  along  to  Dolabella, 
but,  contrary  to  expectation,  took  it  at  last  to  him- 
self. This  was  contrived  by  Antony,  who,  jealous 
of  Dolabella,  as  a  rival  in  Caesar's  favour,  had  been 
suggesting  somewhat  to  his  disadvantage,  and  la- 
bouring to  create  a  diffidence  of  him  in  Caesar ; 
which  seems  to  have  been  the  ground  of  what  is 
mentioned  above,  Caesar's  guarding  himself  so  par- 
ticularly, when  he  passed  by  his  villa.  Dolabella 
was  sensibly  touched  with  this  affront,  and  came 
full  of  indignation  to  the  senate ;  where,  not  daring 
to  vent  his  spleen  on  Caesar,  he  entertained  the  as- 
sembly with  a  severe  speech  against  Antony,  which 
drew  on  many  warm  and  angry  words  between 
them ;  till  Caesar,  to  end  the  dispute,  promised  to 
resign  the  consulship  to  Dolabella,  before  he  went 
to  the  Parthian  war :  but  Antony  protested,  that, 
by  his  authority  as  augur,  he  would  disturb  that 
election,   whenever  it   should  be  attempted  ;t  ^ind 

*  Vid.  Dio.  p.  240. 

f  Cum  Caesar  ostendisset,  se,  priusquam  proficisceretur,  Dolabellam 
consulem  esse  jnssurum— hie  bonus  Augur  eo  se  sacerdotio  praeditum 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  423 


A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

declared,  witliout  any  scruple,  that  the  ground  of 
his  quarrel  with  Dolabella  was,  for  having  caught 
him  in  an  attempt  to  debauch  his  wife  Antonia,  the 
daughter  of  his  uncle  ;  though  that  was  thought  to 
be  a  calumny,  contrived  to  colour  his  divorce  with 
her,  and  his  late  marriage  with  Fulvia,  the  widow  of 
Clodius.=^ 

Caesar  was  now  in  the  height  of  all  his  glory,  and 
dressed,  as  Florus  says,  in  all  his  trappings,  like  a 
victim  destined  to  sacrifice.t  He  had  received  from 
the  senate  the  most  extravagant  honours,  both  hu- 
man and  divine,  which  flattery  could  invent ;  "  a 
"  temple,  altar,  priest ;  his  image  carried  in  proces- 
"  sion  with  the  gods ;  his  statue  among  the  kings ; 
"  one  of  the  months  called  after  his  name,  and  a 
"perpetual  dictatorship."!  Cicero  endeavoured 
to  restraint  he  excess  of  this  complaisance,  witliin 
the  bounds  of  reason  ;^  but  in  vain,  since  Caesar 
was  more  forward  to  receive,  than  tliey  to  give  ; 
and,  out  of  the  gayety  of  his  pride,  and  to  try,  as 
it  were,  to  what  length  their  adulation  w^ould  reach, 
when  he  was  actually  possessed  of  every  thing 
which  carried  with  it  any  real  power,  was  not  con- 
tent still  without  a  title,  which  could  add  nothing 
but  envy  and  popular  odium,  and  wanted  to  be  cal- 
led a  king.     Plutarch  thinks  it  a  strange  instance  of 

esse  dixit  ut  coniitia  auspiciis  vel  irapedire  vel  vitiare  posset,  idque 
se  lacturuin  asseveravit.      Phil.  2.  32. 

*  Frequentissimo  senatu — banc  tibi  esse  cum  Dolabella  causamodii 
dicere  ausus  es,  quod  ab  eo  sorori  et  uxori  tuae  stuprum  oblatum  esse 
coraperisses.     Phil.  2.  38. 
/ 

f  Quae  omnia,  velut  in^ulae,  in  destinatam  raorti  victimara  congere- 
bantur.     1.  4.  2.  92. 

f  Flor.  Ibid.    Sqetou.  J.Caes.  7fi  5  Plutarch,  iu  Caes 


424  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,  viti, 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Co9s.--C.  Julius  Caesar  Y.    M.  Antonius. 


folly  in  the  people,  to  endure  with  patience  all  the 
real  effects  of  kingly  government,  yet  declare  such 
an  abhorrence  to  the  name.  But  the  folly  was  not 
so  strange  in  the  people  as  it  was  in  Caesar :  it  is 
natural  to  the  multitude  to  be  governed  by  names, 
rather  than  things,  and  the  constant  art  of  parties  to 
keep  up  that  prejudice;  but  it  was  unpardonable 
in  so  great  a  man  as  Caesar,  to  lay  so  much  stress 
on  a  title  wliich,  so  far  from  being  an  honour  to  him, 
seemed  to  be  a  diminution  rather  of  that  superiour 
dignity  which  he  already  enjoyed. 

Among  the  other  compliments  that  were  paid  to 
him,  there  was  a  new  fraternity  of  Luperci  insti- 
tuted to  his  honour,  and  called  by  his  name,  of 
which  Antony  was  the  head.  Young  Quintus  Ci- 
cero was  one  of  this  society,  with  the  consent  of  his 
father,  though  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  his  uncle, 
whO'  considered  it  not  only  as  a  low  piece  of  flat- 
tery, but  an  indecency,  for  a  young  man  of  family 
to  be  engaged  in  ceremonies  so  immodest,  of  run- 
ning naked  and  frantick  about  the  streets.^  The 
festival  was^  he^d  about  the  middle  of  February, 
and  Caesar,  in  his  triumphal  robe,  seated  himself  in 
the  rostra,  in  a  golden  chair,  to  see  the  diversion 
of  the  running,  where,  in  the  midst  of  their  sport, 
the  consul  Antony,  at  the  head  of  his  naked  crew, 
made  him  the  offer  of  a  regal  diadem,  and  attem])t- 
edto  put  it  upon  his  head,  at  the  sight  of  which  a 
general  groan  issued  from  the  whole  forum,  till, 
upon  Caesar's  slight  refusal  of  it,  the  people  loud- 
ly testified  their  joy  by  an   universal  shout.     An- 

*  Quintus  pater  quartura  vel  potiiis  Loillesimiim  nihil  sapit,  qui.Iae- 
tetur  Luperco  filio  et  Statio,  ut  cernat  duplici  dedecore  cumulcitain 
domum.     Ad  Att.  12.  5. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  4-25 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic,  6^    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

tony,  however,  ordered  it  to  be  entered  in  the 
publick  acts,  that,  by  the  command  of  tlie  peo- 
ple, he  had  offered  tlie  kinjjjly  name  and  power  to 
Caesar,  and  that  Caesar  would  not  accept  i1.^ 

While  this  affair  of  the  kingly  title  amused  and 
alarmed  the  city,  two  of  the  tribunes,  IMarullus 
and  Caesetius,  \vere  particularly  active  in  discour- 
ao;ing  every  step  and  attempt  towards  it :  they 
took  off  the  diadem  which  certain  persons  had  pri- 
vately put  upon  Caesar's  statue  in  the  rostra,  and 
committed  those  to  prison  who  were  suspected  to 
have  done  it;  and  publickly  punished  others,  for 
daring  to  salute  him  in  tlie  streets  by  the  name  of 
King  ;  declaring,  that  Caesar  himself  refused  and 
abhorred  that  title.  This  provoked  Caesar  be- 
yond his  usual  temper  and  command  of  himself, 
so  that  he  accused  them  to  the  senate  of  a  design 
to  raise  a  sedition  against  him,  by  persuading  the 
city  that  he  really  affected  to  be  a  king ;  but  when 
the  assembly  was  going  to  pass  the  severest  sen- 
tence upon  them,  he  was  content  with  deposing 
them  from  their  magistrary,  and  expelling  Ihem 
from  the  senate,t  which  convinced  people  still  the 
more  of  his  real  fondness  for  a  name  that  he  pre- 
tended to  despise. 

*  Sedebat  in  rostris  coHega  tiius,  araictus  toga  purpurea,  in  sella 
aurea,  coronatus  :  adscendis.  acoedis  ad  seilam — diadenja  osJendis  : 
geraitnv  toto  foro— tu  diadema  imponebas  cum  plangore  populi,  ille 
cum  plausu  rejiciebat — at  enim  adsciibi  jussit  in  Fastis  ad  l>uperca- 
lia,  C.  Caesari,  dictatori  perpeluo,  M.  Antonium  consulem  populi 
jussu  regnum  detulisse,  Caesarem  uti  noluisse.  [Phil.  2.  34. J  Qiiod 
ab  eo  ita  repulsum  erat,  ut  non  ofl'cnsus  videretur.      Veil.  Pat.  2.  .56. 

t  Sueton.  J.  Caes.  79.  Dio.  p.  245.  App.  1.  2.  p.  496.  Veil.  Pat. 
2.  68. 

VOL.    IT.  54 


4'J6  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vni. 


A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.   Julius  Caesar.  V.    M.  Antonius, 

He  had  now  prepared  all  thin;^s  for  his  expedition 
aoainst  the  Parthians,  had  sent  his  les^ions  before 
him  into  Macedonia,  settled  the  succession  of  all 
the  macristrates  for  two  years  to  come,^  appointed 
Dolabella  to  take  his  own  place  as  consul  for  the 
current  year,  named  A.  Hirtius  and  C,  Pansa  for 
consuls  of  the  next,  and  D.  Brutus  and  Cn.  Plan- 
cus  for  the  following  year :  but  before  his  depar- 
ture, he  resolved  to  have  the  regal  title  conferred 
upon  him  by  the  senate,  who  were  too  sensible  of 
his  power,  and  obsequious  to  his  will,  to  deny 
him  any  thing :  and  to  make  it  the  more  palatable 
at  the  same  time  to  the  people,  he  caused  a  re- 
port to  be  industriously  propagated  through  the 
city,  of  ancient  prophecies  found  in  the  Sibylline 
books,  that  the  Parthians  could  not  be  conquered, 
but  by  a  king ;  on  the  strength  of  which,  Cotta, 
one  of  the  guardians  of  those  books,  was  to  move 
the  senate,  at  their  next  meeting,  to|  decree  the 
title  of  king  to  him.f  Cicero,  speaking  afterwards 
of  this  design,  says,  "  It  was  expected  that  some 
*'  forged  testimonies  would  be  produced,  to  shew, 
"  that  he,  whom  we  had  felt  in  reality  to  be  a  king, 
"  should  be  called  also  by  that  name,  if  we  would 
^'  be  safe  :  but  let  us  make  a  bargain  with  the  keep- 
"  ers  of  those  oracles,  that  they  bring  any  thing 
"  out  of  them,  rather  than  a  king,  which  neither 
*^'  the  gods  nor  men  will  ever  endure  again  at 
"  Rome."t 


*  Etiamne  consiiles  et  tribur.i^js  plebis  in  biennium,  quos  ille  volu- 
it?     AdAtt.  14.  6. 

t  Proximo  autera  senatu,  L.  Cottam  quiinlecejDviruni  sententiam 
dicturuin  ;  ut  quoniara  iibris  fatalibus  contiiieretur,  Partbos  non  nisi 
a  rege  posse  vinci,  Caesar  rex  appellaretur.  Suelon.  c.  79.  Dio.  p. 
247. 

I  Quorum  interpres  nuper  falsa  quaedam  hominum  faraa  dicturns 
in  senatu  putabatur,  eum,  quern  re  vera  regera  habebamus,  appellan- 


SECT.   vin.  CICERO.  427 


A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 


One  would  naturally  have  expected,  after  all  the  fa- 
tigues and  dangers  through  which  Caesar  had  made 
his  way  to  empire,  that  he  would  have  chosen  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  a  declining  life  in  the  quiet 
enjoyment  of  all  the  honours  and  pleasures  which 
absolute  power,  and  a  command  of  the  world, 
could  bestow  :  but,  in  the  mindst  of  all  this  glory, 
he  was  a  stranger  still  to  ease  :  he  saw  the  people 
generally  disaffected  to  him,  and  impatient  under 
his  government ;  and,  though  amused  a  while, 
with  the  splendour  of  his  shews  and  triumphs,  yet 
regretting  severely,  in  cool  blood,  the  price  that 
they  had  paid  for  them,  tlie  loss  of  their  liberty,  with 
the  lives  of  the  best  and  noblest  of  their  fellow 
citizens.  This  expedition,  therefore,  against  the 
Parthians,  seems  to  have  been  a  political  pretext 
for  removing  himself  from  the  murmurs  of  the 
city,  and  leaving  to  his  ministers  the  exercise  of 
an  invidious  power,  and  the  task  of  taming  the 
spirits  of  the  populace,  whilst  he,  by  employing 
himself  in  gathering  fresh  laurels  in  the  East,  and 
extending  the  bounds,  and  retrieving  the  honour 
of  the  empire,  against  its  most  dreaded  enemy, 
might  gradually  reconcile  them  to  a  reign  that  was 
gentle  and  clement  at  home,  successful  and  glorious 
abroad. 

But  his  impatience  to  be  a  king  defeated  all 
his  projects,  and  accelerated  his  fate,  and  push- 
ed on  the  nobles,  who  had  conspired  against  his 
life,  to  the  immediate  execution  of  their  plot, 
that  they  might  save  themselves  the  shame  of  be- 

(lum  quoqiie  e«;se  regem,  sisalvi  esse  vcllemiis — cum  antistitibus  aga- 
mus,  lit  quidvis  potiiis  ex  illis  libris,  qiiaiii  rcgem  proferant,  quern 
Roinae  posthac  nee  Dii  ncc  homines  esse  patieiitur..   Dc  Diviii.  2.  f)i. 


428  THE  LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.     Coss.~C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

ing  forced  to  concur  in  an  act  which  they  heartily 
detested  :^  and  the  two  Brutusesin  particular,  the 
honour  of  whose  house  was  founded  in  the  extir- 
pation of  kingly  government,  could  not  but  con- 
sider it  as  a  personal  infamy,  and  a  dissjrace  to 
their  very  name,  to  suffer  the  restoration  of  it. 

There  were  above  sixty  persons  said  to  be  en- 
gaged in  this  conspiracy,!  the  greatest  part  of 
them  of  the  senatorian  rank  ;  but  M.  Brutus  and  C. 
Cassius  were  the  cliief  in  credit  and  authority, 
the  first  contrivers  and  movers  of  the  whole  de- 
sign. 

M.  Junius  Brutus  was  about  one  and  forty 
years  old,  of  the  most  illustrious  family  of  the 
republick,  deriving  his  name  and  descent  in  a  di- 
rect line  from  that  first  consul,  L.  Brutus,  who  ex- 
pelled Tarquin,  and  gave  freedom  to  the  Roman 
people.!     Having  lost  his  father  when  very  young, 

*  Quae  causa  conjuratis  fnit  maturandi  destinata  negotia,  ne  assen- 
tiri  nccesseessct.     Suet  J.Caes.  80.     Uio.  p.  247. 
'^       f 

f  Conspiratura  est  in  eum  a  sexaginta  araplius,  C.  Cassio,  Marcoque 
,ct  Dccimo  Bruto  principibus  conspirationis.     Suel.  lo. 

I  Some  of  the  ancient  writers  call  in  question  this  account  of  Bru- 
tus's  descent  ;  particularly  Didnysius  ol  Halicarnassus,  tht  niosi  Ju- 
dicious and  critical  of  them,  who  alleges  several  arguments  against  it, 
which  seem  to  be  very  plausible.  Yet,  while  Brutus  lived,  it  was 
universally  allowed  to  him.  Cicero  mentions  it  in  his  publick  speech- 
es, and  other  writings,  as  a  fact  that  nobody  doubted  ;  and  often 
speaks  of  the  image  of  old  Brutus,  which  Marcus  kept  in  his  house 
among  those  of  his  ancestors  :  And  Atticus,  who  was  peculiarly  cu- 
rious in  the  antiquities  of  the  l^oman  families,  drew  up  Brvtus':i  gene- 
alogy for  him,  and  deduced  his  succession  from  that  old  hero,  in  a  di- 
rect line  through  all  the  intermediate  ages  from  father  to  son.  Corn. 
Nep.  Vit.  Att    IB.     Tusc.  Disp.  4.  1. 

He  was  born  in  the  consulship  of  L.Cornelius  Cinna  III.  an(J  Cn. 
Papirius  Carbo  A.  U.  668.  which  fully  confutes  the  vulgar  story  of 
his  being  commonly  believed  to  be  Caesuras  son;  since  he  was  but 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  429 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

he  was  trained  with  ^reat  care,  by  his  uncle  Cato,  in 
the  studies  of  polite  letters,  especially  of  eloquence 
and  philosophy,  and,  under  the  discipline  of  such 
a   tutor,    inibibed   a    warm    love    for  liberty  and 
virtue.      He  had   excellent  parts,  and   equal   in- 
dustry, and   acquired   an  early  fame   at   the    bar, 
where    he    pleaded   several    causes   of   great   im- 
portance, and    was   esteemed   the   most    eloquent 
and  learned  of  all  the  young  nobles  of  his  a^e. 
His  manner  of  speaking  was  correct,  eleiiant,  ju- 
dicious, yet    vvantino;  that  force   and    copiousness 
which  is  required   in  a  consummate  orator.     But 
philosophy  was  his  favourite  study,  in  which,  though 
he  professed  himself  of  the  more  moderate  sect  of 
the  old  academy,  yet,  from  a  certain  pride  and 
gravity  of  temper,  he  atTected  the  seyerity  of  the 
Stoick,  and   to  imitate   his   uncle  Cato,   to  which 
he  was  wholly  unequal ;  for  he  was  of  a  mild,  mer- 
ciful,   and   compassionate    disposition,    averse    to 
every  thing  cruel,  and   was  often  fr)rced,  by  the 
tenderness  of  his  nature,  to  confute  the  rigour  of 
his  principles.      While   his   mother   lived  in   the 
greatest  familiarity  with  Caesar,  he  was  constantly 
attached  to  the  opposite  party,  and  firm  to  the  in- 
terests of  liberty  ;  for   the   sake  of  which  he  fol- 
lowed Pompey,  whom  he  hated,  and  acted  on  that 
side  with   a  distinguished   zeal.     At  the   battle  of 
Pharsalia,  Caesar  gave  particular  orders  to  find  out 
and  preserve  Brutus,  being  desirous  to  draw   him 

fifteen  years  younger  than  Caesar  liimsclf,  whose  lamiliarity  with  his 
mother.  Servilia,  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  coniuienced  till  many 
years  after  Brutus  was  born  ;  or.  not  till  Caear  had  lost  i.is  first  wife 
Cornelia,  whom  he  married  when  he  was  very  young,  and  always  ten- 
derly loved;  and  whosefiineral  nratiun  he  made  whrn  he  was  Qvaes- 
*or,'and  consequently  tkirti/  years  old.  Vid.  Sueton.  J.  Caes.  c.  1.  6. 
.W.     It.  Brut.  p.  343.  447.  rt  Corradi  notas. 


430  THE   LIFE    OF  sect,    vi 


A.  Urb.  709.    Cic  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M,  Antonius. 


from  the  pursuit  of  a  cause  that  was  likely  to  prove 
fatal  to  him ;  so  that,  when  Cato,  with  the  rest  of 
the  chiefs,  went  to  renew  the  war  in  Africk,  he 
was  induced,  by  Caesar's  generosity  and  his  mo- 
ther's prayers,  to  lay  down  his  arms,  and  return  to 
Italy.  Caesar  endeavoured  to  oblio^e  him  bv  all 
the  honours  which  his  power  could  bestow ;  but 
the  indignity  of  receiving  from  a  master,  what  he 
ought  to  have  received  from  a  free  people,  shocked 
him  much  more  than  any  honours  could  oblige  ; 
and  the  ruin,  in  which  he  saw  his  friends  involved 
by  Caesar's  usurped  dominion,  gave  him  a  disgust 
which  no  favours  could  compensate.  He  observ- 
ed, therefore,  a  distance  and  reserve  through  Cae- 
sar's reign ;  aspired  to  no  share  of  his  confidence, 
or  part  in  his  counsels,  and,  by  the  uncourtly  ve- 
hemence with  which  he  defended  the  rights  of 
King  Deiotarus,  convinced  Caesar,  that  he  could 
never  be  obliged  where  he  did  not  find  himself  free. 
He  cultivated,  all  the  while,  the  strictest  friendship 
with  Cicero,  whose  principles,  he  knew,  were  ut- 
terly averse  to  the  measures  of  the  times ;  and  in 
whose  free  conversation  he  used  to  mingle  his  own 
complaints  on  the  unhappy  state  of  the  republick, 
and  the  wretched  hands  into  which  it  was  fallen, 
till,  animated  by  these  conferences,  and  confirmed 
by  the  general  discontent  of  all  the  honest,  he 
formed  the  bold  design  of  freeing  his  country  by 
the  destruction  of  Caesar.  He  had  publickly  de- 
fended Milo's  act  of  killing  Clodius,  by  a  maxim, 
which  he  maintained  to  be  universally  true,  "  that 
*'  those  who  live  in  defiance  of  the  laws,  and  can- 
"  not  be  brought  to  a  trial,  ought  to  be  taken  off 
"  without  a  trial."  The  case  was  applicable  to 
Caesar  in  a  much  higher  degree  than  to  Clodius, 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  431 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

whose  power  had  placed  him  above  the  reach 
of  the  law,  and  left  no  way  of  punishing  him  but 
by  an  assassination.  This,  therefore,  was  Brutus's 
motive  ;  and  Antony  did  him  the  justice  to  say, 
that  he  "  was  the  only  one  of  the  conspiracy,  who 
"  entered  into  it  out  of  principle  ;  that  the  rest, 
"  from  private  malice,  rose  up  against  the  man,  he 
*'  alone  against  the  tyrant. ""* 

C.  Cassius  was  descended  likewise  from  a  fami- 
ly not  less  honourable  or  ancient,  nor  less  zealous 
for  the  publick  liberty,  than  Brutus's :  whose  an- 
cestor, Sp.  Cassius,  after  a  triumph  and  three  con- 
sulships, is  said  to  have  been  condemned,  and  put 
to  death  by  his  own  father,  for  aiming  at  a  dominion. 
He  shewed  a  remarkable  instance,  when  a  boy,  of 
his  high  spirit  and  love  of  liberty  ;  for  he  gave 
Sylla's  son,  Faustus,  a  box  on  the  ear,  for  bragging, 
among  his  school-fellows,  of  his  father's  greatness 
and  absolute  power ;  and,  when  Pompey  called^the 
boys  before  him,  to  give  an  account  of  their  quar- 
rel, he  declared  in  his  presence,  tliat  if  Faustus 
should  dare  to  repeat  the  words,  he  would  repeat 
the  blow.     He  was  quaestor  to  Crassus,  in  the  Par- 

*  Natura  adinirabilis,  et  exqnisita  doctrina,  et  singiilaris  industria. 
Cum  enim  in  maximis  caiisis  versatus  esses.  [Brut,  26.]  Quo  uiagis 
luum,  Brute,  judicium  probo,  qui  eorum,  id  est,  ex  vetcre  acadcmia. 
philosophorum  sectam  secutus  es,  qiionnn  in  doctrina  et  praeceptis 
disserendi  ratio  conjungitur  cum  suavitate  dicendi  et  copia.  [Brut. 
219.1     ^^m  cum  inamfjularem  in  Xysto— M.  ad  me  Brulus,  ut  con- 

sueverati  cum  T.   Pomponio  venerat.     [Brut.    15.]     Tum  Brutus 

itaque  doleo  et  illius  cousilio  et  tua  voce  populum  Worn.  cartMe  tam- 
diu.  Uuod  cum  per  se  dolendum  est,  tum  multo  magis  consideranti. 
ad  quos  ista  non  translata  sint,  sed  nescio  quo  pacto  devencriut. 
[Brut.  269.] 

'Axa'  'Ai9av/5u  yi  km  mKKivc  etx.outrui  hiyovloc,  1;  fxovcv  omlo  B^&utov  i'riBifQtit 
KoLicrupi.   TT^cot^Bivlai    th   KA/UTr^oTtlll  KAi  T(c   <j)3f/va^«V5c  xa^M  T>'C  Tr^n^ii^r.       Vid. 

Plur.  in  Brut.  p.  997.  it.  App.  p.  498. 


432  THE  LIFE    OF  sect,  viii- 


A.  Urb.  709,    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 


tliian  war,  where  he  sjreatly  signalized  both  his  cou- 
ra^re  and  skill ;  and  if  Crassus  had  followed  his 
advice,  would  have  preserved  the  whole  army  ;  but, 
after  their  miserable  defeat,  he  made  good  his  re- 
treat into  Syria  with  the  remains  of  the  broken 
legions  :  and  when  the  Parthians,  flushed  with  suc- 
cess, pursued  him  thither,  soon  after,  and  blocked 
him  up  in  Antioch.  he  preserved  that  city  and  pro- 
vince from  falling  into  their  hand^ ;  and  watching 
his  opportunity,  gained  a  considerable  victory  over 
them,  wiih  the  destruction  of  their  general.  In 
the  civil  war,  after  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  he  sail- 
ed with  seventy  ships  to  the  coast  of  Asia,  to  raise 
fresh  forces  in  that  country,  and  renew  the  war 
ao^ainst  Caesar ;  but,  as  the  historians  tell  us,  hap- 
pening to  meet  with  Caesar  crossing  the  Helle- 
spont, in  a  common  passage  boat,  instead  of  destroy- 
ing him  as  he  might  have  done,  he  was  so  terrified 
by  the  sight  of  the  conqueror,  that  he  begged  his 
life  ill  an  abject  manner,  and  delivered  up  his  fleet 
to  him.  But  Cicero  gives  us  a  hint  of  a  quite 
diiFerent  story,  which  is  much  more  probable,  and 
worthy  of  Cassius  ;  that  having  got  intelligence 
wliere  Caesar  d^sioned  to  land,  he  lay  in  wait  for 
hirn,  in  a  bay  of  Ciiicia,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Cs  dnus.  with  a  resolution  to  destroy  him  ;  but 
Caesar  happened  to  land  on  the  opposite  shore  be- 
fore he  was  aware  :  so  that  seeing  his  project  blast- 
ed, and  Caesar  secured  in  a  country  where  all  peo- 
ple were  declaring  tor  him,  he  thought  it  best  to 
make  his  own  peace  too,  by  going  over  to  him 
with  his  fleet.  He  married  Tertia,  the  sister  of 
Brutus  ;  and  though  diifering  in  temper  and  philo- 
phy,  was  strirtly  united  with  him  in  friendship  and 
politicks  ;  and  the  constant  partner  of  all  his  coun- 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  433 

A.  Urb,  709.    Cic,  63.    Coss.—C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 


sels.  He  was  brave,  witty,  learned ;  yet  passion- 
ate, fierce,  and  cruel ;  so  that  Brutus  was  the  more 
amiable  friend,  he  the  more  dangerous  enemy :  in 
his  later  years  he  deserted  the  stoicks,  and  became 
a  convert  to  Epicurus  ;  whose  doctrine  he  thought 
more  natural  and  reasonable  ;  constantly  maintain- 
intr,  that  the  pleasure  which  their  master  recom- 
mended, was  to  be  found  only  in  the  habitual 
practice  of  justice  and  virtue ;  while  he  professed 
himself,  therefore,  an  Epicurean,  he  lived  like  a 
Stoick  ;  was  moderate  in  pleasures,  temperate  in 
diet,  and  a  water-drinker  through  life.  He  attach- 
ed himself  very  early  to  the  observance  of  Cicero  ; 
as  all  the  young  nobles  did,  who  had  any  thing 
great  or  laudable  in  view  :  this  friendship  was  con- 
firmed by  a  conformity  of  their  sentiments  in  the 
civil  war,  and  in  Caesar's  reign;  during  which, 
several  letters  passed  between  them,  written  with 
a  freedom  and  familiarity  which  is  to  be  found  on- 
ly in  the  most  intimate  correspondence.  In  these 
letters,  though  Cicero  rallies  his  Epicurism  and 
change  of  principles,  yet  he  allows  him  to  have 
acted  always  with  the  greatest  honour  and  integri- 
ty ;  and  pleasantly  says,  ''  that  he  should  begin  to 
"  think  that  sect  to  have  more  nerves  than  he  had  iraa- 
'•  gined,  since  Cassius  had  embraced  it."  The  old 
writers  assign  several  frivolous  reasons  of  disgust,  as 
the  motives  of  his  killing  Caesar  :-tliat  Caesar  took  a 
number  of  lions  from  him,  which  lie  had  provided  for 
a  publick  shew ;  that  he  vvould  not  give  him  the  con- 
sulship ;  that  he  gave  Brutus  the  more  hon-uiable 
praetorship  in  preference  to  him.  But  we  need 
not  look  farther  for  the  true  motive  than  to  his 
temper  and  principles :  for  his  nature  was  singu- 
larly impetuous  and  violent ;  impatient  of  contra- 
voL.  ir.  •'^•'3 


434  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,  vih- 


A.  Uib.  709.    Cic  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antouius. 


diction,  and  much  more  of  subjection;  and  pas- 
sionately fond  of  glory,  virtue,  liberty  :  it  was  from 
these  qualities,  that  Caesar  apprehended  his  dan- 
ger ;  and,  when  admonished  to  beware  of  Antony 
and  Dolabella,  used  to  say,  that  "  it  was  not  the 
^*  gay,  the  curled,  and  the  jovial,  whom  he  had 
''  cause  to  fear,  but  the  thoughtful,  the  pale,  and 
the  lean  ;" — meaning  Brutus  and  Cassius."^ 

The  next  in  authority  to  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
though  very  different  from  them  in  character,  were 
Decimus  Brutus,  and  C.  Trebonius  :  they  had 
both  been  constantly  devoted  to  Caesar ;  and  were 
singularly  favoured,  advanced,  and   entrusted  by 

*  C.  Cassias  in  ea  familia  natus,  quae  non  modo  dominatum,  sed  ne 
•potentiain  quidem  cujusquara  t'erre  potuit.  [Phil.  2.  11.]  Q,uejn  ubi 
primiira  inagistratu  abiit,  damuaturaque  constat.  Sunt  qui  patrem 
actorem  ejus  supplicii  terant.  Earn  cognita  dorai  causa  verberasse 
ac  necasse,  peculiumque  filii  Cereri  consecravisse.  [Liv.  2.  41.]  Cu- 
jus  filiuna,  Faustum,  C.  Cassius  condiscipnlum  suum  in  schola,  pro- 
scriptionem  paternain  landantem — colapho  perctissit.  [Val.  Max.  3. 
1.  vid.  Plut.  in  Brut.]  Reliquias  legionuiii  C.  Cassius, — quaestor  con- 
servavit,  Syriaraque  adeo  in  populi  Romani  potestate  retinuit,  ut 
transgresses  in  eutn  Parthos,  felici  renim  eventu  fugaret  ac  funderet, 

[Veil.  Pat.  2.  46.  it  Phil.  Xi.  14.]  ovh  ig^ycv  In^ov  yiyoofjio-t  rv'^nc  iV  o-vo^oo 
xst<p»  yvii<r^tii  ^i«iXov,^  XrtiTcr/ov  Tsy  TroKi/xinanAlov  iTri  r^i/i^xv  iCJ^ofAmovrsi  ATrat- 

gAa-}CiUa>    XoLiO-dL^t     (T'JVTV^OVTCt,    ^Xdf'     «f    ;^«g*f     iMitV     CrrOO-^UVdil,  0     cT'      CVTCUC     iAV%V 

eti<rypui;  Ctto  <po/io'j  fAovou  TTUgATTkiuvli  rrA^st.J'ivs,  vtmeov  iv  I'ce/uif  Jvvxa-Tiucvrn  »Sn 
KAliiClxm.  [App.  2.  483.  it.  Dio.  1.42.  188.  Sueton.  J.  Caes.  63.]  C. 
Cassius — sine  his  clarissimis  viris  banc  rem  inCilicia  ad  ostinm  flumi- 
nis  Cydni  confecisset,  si  ille  ad  earn  ripam,  quam  constituerat,  non  ad 
contrariam  naves  appulisset.  [Piii!.  2.  11.]  e  quibus  Brutum  arniciim 
habere  inalles  in'.niieum  magis  timeres  Cassium.  [Veil.  Pat.  2.  72.] 
wcTgvwv  vero  et  aratgst^fiv  vifiute,  justitia,  to*  kako)  parari,  et  verum  et 
probabile  est.  Ipse  enim  Epicurus — dicit.  oy»  io-riv  ySicn;  aisw  tcv 
KAhoii  Kcit  SiKctiaic  ^w.  fEp.  Fain.  15.  19,]  Cassius  tota  vita  aquam 
bibit.  Senec.  547.]  Quanqu^m  quicum  loquor  ?  cum  uno  ibrtissimo 
viro ;  qui  postea  quam  forum  attigisti,  nihil  lecisti  nisi  plenis- 
simum  amplissimae  dignitatis.  In  ista  ipsa  cf.:^i<rit  metuo  ue  plus  ner- 
vorum sit.  quam  ego  putarim,  si  modo  earn  tu  probas.  [Kp.  Fam.  15. 
16.]  Diffbreudo  consu latum  Cassium  offenderat.  [Veil.  Pat.  2.  5(>. 
it.  Plut.  in  Brut.  App.  408.] 


SECT.  VII!.  CICERO.  435 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.     Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar.  V.    M. 


him  in  all  his  wars  ;  so  that,  whan  Caesar  marched 
first  into  Spain,  he  left  them  to  command  the  siege 
of  Marseilles,  Brutus  by  sea,  Trebonius  by  land ; 
in  which  they  acquitted  themselves  with  the  great- 
est courage  and  ability,  and  reduced  that  strong 
place  to  the  necessity  of  surrendering  at  discre- 
tion. Decimus  was  of  the  same  family  with  his 
namesake  Marcus  ;  and  Caesar,  as  if  jealous  of  a 
name  that  inspired  an  aversion  to  kings,  was  par- 
ticularly solicitous  to  gain  them  both  to  his  inter- 
est ;  and  seemed  to  have  succeeded  to  his  wish 
in  Decimus;  who  forwardly  embraced  his  friend- 
ship, and  accepted  all  his  favours ;  being  named 
by  him  to  the  command  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  and  to 
the  consulship  of  the  following  year,  and  the  se- 
cond heir  even  of  his  estate,  in  failure  of  the  first. 
He  seems  to  have  had  no  peculiar  character  of  vir- 
tue, or  patriotism,  nor  any  correspondence  with 
Cicero,  before  the  act  of  killing  Caesar ;  so  that 
people,  instead  of  expecting  it  from  him,  Avere 
surprised  at  his  doing  it ;  yet  he  was  brave,  gene- 
rous, magnificent,  and  lived  with  great  splendour, 
in  the  enjoyment  of  an  immense  fortune ;  for  he 
kept  a  numerous  band  of  gladiators  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, for  the  diversion  of  the  city ;  and,  after 
Caesar's  death,  spent  about  four  hundred  thousand 
pounds  of  his  own  money,  in  maintaining  an  army 
against  Antony.^ 

*  Adiectis  etiam  consiliariis  caedis,  familiarissiinis  omnium,  et  for- 
tiina  partium  ejus  in  snmmum  evictis  fasti^ium.  D.  Bruto  et  C.  Tre- 
bonio,  aliisqueclari  nominis  viris.  [Veil.  Pat.  2.'.''>fi.J  Pluresqiie  per- 
cussorum  in  tutoribus  filii  nominavit  :  Dccimum  Bruttim  eiiam  in 
sccnndis  heredibiis.  [Sueton.  .T.  Caes.  (J3.]  Vid.  Caes.  Comm.  de 
Bell,  civil.  I.  2.  Pint,  in  Brut.  App.  p.  407.  f>in.  Dio,  1.  44.  247.  etc. 
D.  Brutus— cum  Cacsaris  primus  omnium  amicorum  t'uisset,  intcriec- 
tor  fuit.     Veil.  Pat.  2.  64. 


486  THE   LIFE   OF  sect,  viik 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 


Trebonius  had  no  family  to  boast  of,  but  was 
wholly  a  new  man,  and  the  creature  of  Caesar's 
power,  who  promoted  him  through  all  the  honours 
of  the  state,  to  his  late  consulship  of  three  months : 
Antony  calls  him  the  son  of  a  buffoon  ;  but  Cice- 
ro, of  a  splendid  knight :  he  was  a  man  of  parts, 
prudence,  integrity,  humanity  ;  was  conversant 
also  in  the  politer  arts,  and  had  a  peculiar  turn  to 
wit  and  humour  :  for,  after  Caesar's  death,  he  pub- 
lished a  volume  of  Cicero's  sayings,  which  he  had 
taken  the  pains  to  collect ;  upon  which  Cicero 
compliments  him,  for  having  explained  them  with 
great  elegance,  and  given  them  a  fresh  force  and 
beauty,  by  his  humorous  manner  of  introducing 
them.  As  the  historians  have  not  suggested  any 
reason  that  should  move  either  him  or  Deci- 
mus  to  the  resolution  of  killing  a  man,  to  whom 
they  were  infinitely  obliged  ;  so  we  may  reasona- 
bly impute  it,  as  Cicero  does,  to  a  greatness  of 
soul,'  and  superiour  love  of  their  country,  which 
made  them  prefer  the  liberty  of  Rome  to  the 
friendship  of  any  man  ;  and  choose  rather  to  be 
the  destroyers,  than  the  partners  of  a  tyranny.^ 

The  rest  of  the  conspirators  were  partly  young 
tnen,  of  noble  blood,  eager  to  revenge  the  ruin  of 

t  Scurrae  filium  appellat  Antonius.  Quasi  vero  ignotus  nobis  fue- 
ritsplendidus  Eqnes  Homanus  Trebonii  pater.  [Phil  13.  10.1  Tre- 
bonii — consilium,  ingenium,  buraanitatem,  innocentiam,  magnitudi- 
uem  animi  in  patria  liberanda  quis  ignorat  ?  [Phil.  xi.  4.]  liber  iste, 
quern  mihi  misisti,  quantam  habt^t  declarationem  amoris  tui  ?  primum, 
quod  tibi  facetum  videtur  quicquid  ego  dixi,  quod  aliis  fortasse  non 
item  :  deinde,  quod  ilia,  sive  iaceta  sunt,  sive  sic  fiunt  narrante  te 
Tenustissima.  Quiii  etiam  antequam  ad  me  veniatur,  risus  omnis 
paene  consumitur,  etc.  [Ep.  Fam.  16.  21.  it.  12.  16. J  Qui  liberta- 
tem  populi  Romani  unius  amicitiae  praeposuit,  depulsorque  domina- 
tus,  quam  partieeps  esse  maluit.   Phil.  2.  IK 


SECT.  vin.  CICERO.  437 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

their  fortunes  and  families ;  partly  men  obscure, 
and  unknown  to  the  publick  ;^  yet  whose  fidelity 
and  courage  had  been  approved  by  Brutus  and 
Cassius.  It  was  agreed  by  them  all  in  council,  to 
execute  their  design  in  the  senate,  which  was  sum- 
moned to  meet  on  the  Ides,  or  fifteenth  of  March : 
they  knew  that  the  senate  would  applaud  it  when 
done,  and  even  assist,  if  there  was  occasion,  in 
the  doing  it  ;t  and  there  was  a  circumstance,  which 
peculiarly  encouraged  them,  and  seemed  to  be 
even  ominous ;  that  it  happened  to  be  Pompey's 
senate  house,  in  which  their  attempt  was  to  be 
made  ;  and  where  Caesar  would,  consequently,  fall 
at  the  foot  of  Pompey's  statue,  as  a  just  sacrifice 
to  the  manes  of  that  great  man. J  They  took  it 
also  for  granted,  that  the  city  would  be  generally 
on  their  side ;  yet,  for  their  greater  security,  D. 
Brutus  gave  orders  to  arm  his  gladiators  that 
morning,  as  if  for  some  publick  shew,  that  they 
might  be  ready,  on  the  first  notice,  to  secure  the 
avenues  of  the  senate,  and  defend  them  from  any 
sudden  violence  ;  and  Pompey's  theatre,  which  ad- 
joined to  his  senate  house,  being  the  properest 
place  for  the  exercise  of  the  gladiators,  w^ould  cov- 
er all  suspicion  that  might  otherwise  arise  from 
them.  The  only  deliberation  that  perplexed  them, 
and  on  which  they  were  much  divided,  was,  wheth- 
er they  should   not  kill  Antony  also,  and  Lepidus, 

*  fn  tot  horainibus,  partim   obscuris,   partiiii   adolescentibus,   etc. 
Phil.  2.  11. 

f  ^  TaiH  /3iwA.ey7aiv,   it  jta<  /uh  Tr^o/utxdonvi  Tr^oQiifxa;,  In  iJoKv  to  i^yov,  a-j\i7ri>.- 
if-^ujutvmTf.     App.  499. 

I  Postquam   senatus  idibus  Martiis  in  Pompeii  curiam  cdictus  est, 
facile  tempus  et  locum  praetulenint.     [Sueton,  80.] 


438  THE  LIFE  OF  sect,   vi 


A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.     Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

together  with  Caesar;  especially  Antony;  the 
more  ambitious  of  the  two,  and  the  more  likely 
to  create  fresh  danger  to  the  commonwealth.  Cas- 
sias, with  a  majority  of  the  company,  was  warmly 
for  killing  him  :  but  the  two  Brutuses  as  warmly 
opposed,  and  finally  overruled  it :  they  alleged, 
"  that  to  shed  more  blood  than  was  necessary. 
''  would  disgrace  their  cause,  and  draw  upon  them 
"  an  imputation  of  cruelty  ;  and  of  acting,  not  as 
"  patriots,  but  as  the  partisans  of  Pompey  ;  not  so 
"  much  to  free  the  city,  as  to  revenge  themselves 
"  on  their  enemies^,  and  get  the  dominion  of  it  in- 
"  to  their  hands."  But  what  weio;hed  with  them 
the  most,  was  a  vain  persuasion,  that  Antony 
would  be  tractable,  and  easily  reconciled,  as  soon 
as  the  affair  was  over :  but  this  lenity  proved  their 
ruin ;  and  by  leaving  their  work  imperfect,  de- 
feated all  the  benefit  of  it ;  as  we  find  Cicero  af- 
terwards often  reproaching  them  in  his  letters.* 

Many  prodigies  are  mentioned  by  the  historians 
to  have  given  warning  of  Caesar's  death  :t  which 
having  been  forged  by  some,  and  credulously  re- 
ceived by  others,  were  copied,  as  usual,  by  all,  to 
strike  thie  imagination  of  their  readers,  and  raise 
an  awful  attention  to  an  event,  in  which  the  gods 
were  supposed  to  be  interested.  Cicero  has  re- 
lated one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  them  ;  "  that 
"  as  Caesar  was  sacrificing  a  little  before  his  death, 
"  with  great  pomp  and  splendour,  in  his  triumphal 


*  Plutar.  in  Caes.  App.  2.  499,  502.  Dio.  247,  248.  Qiiam  vellera  ad 
Jllas  piilcherrimas  epulas  me  Idibiis  Martiis  invitasses.  Reliquiarum 
nihil  haberemiis.     Ep.  Fain.  x.  28.  12.  4.  ad  Brut.  2.  7. 

ITf  Sed  Caesarl  fiitura  caedes  evideutibus   prodigiis  deminciata  est. 
etc.  .Su  eton.  81.  Plut.  in  vit. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  43y 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic  63.    Coss.— C.  Jalius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antoiiius. 

"  robes,  and  golden  chair,  the  victim,  which  was  a 
"  fat  ox,  was  found  to  be  without  a  heart :  and  when 
"  Caesar  seemed  to  be  shocked  at  it,  Spurinna,  the 
"  Haruspex,  admonished  him  to  beware,  lest  through 
"  a  failure  of  counsel,  his  life  should  be  cut  off, 
"  since  the  heart  was  the  seat  and  source  of  them 
"  both.  The  next  day  he  sacrificed  again,  in  hopes 
''  to  find  the  entrails  more  propitious ;  but  the  liver 
"  of  the  bullock  appeared  to  want  its  head,  which 
"  was  reckoned  also  among  the  direful  omens."* 
These  facts,  though  ridiculed  by  Cicero,  were  pub- 
lickly  affirmed  and  believed  at  the  time  ;  and  seem 
to  have  raised  a  general  rumour  through  the  city, 
of  some  secret  danger  that  threatened  Caesar's  life  ; 
so  that  his  friends  being  alarmed  at  it,  were  endea- 
vouring to  instil  the  same  apprehension  into  Caesar 
himself;  and  had  succeeded  so  far,  as  to  shake  his 
resolution  of  going  that  day  to  the  senate,  when  it 
was  actually  assembled,  by  his  summons,  in  Pom- 
pey's  senate  house ;  till  D.  Brutus,  by  rallying 
those  fears,  as  unmanly  and  unworthy  of  him,  and 

J  DeDiviu.  1.  62.  2.  16.  These  cases  of  victims  found  sometimes 
ivithout  a  heart  or  liver,  gave  rise  to  a  curious  question  among  those 
who  believed  the  reality  of  this  kind  of  divination,  as  the  Sioicks  ge- 
nerally did,  how  to  account  for  the  cause  of  so  strange  a  phaenome- 
uon.  The  common  solution  was,  that  the  gods  made  such  changes  in- 
stantaneously, in  the  moment  of  sacrificing,  by  annihilating  or  altering 
the  condition  of  the  entrails,  so  as  to  make  it  correspond  with  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  sacrificer,  and  the  admonition  vAhich  they  intended 
to  give.  [De  Div.  ibid.]  But  this  v»as  laughed  at  by  the  natura]ist'<. 
as  wholly  unphilosophical,  who  thought  it  absurd  to  imagine,  that  thr 
Deity  could  either  annihilate,  or  create;  either  reduce  any  thing  to 
nothing,  or  form  any  thing  out  of  nothing.  What  seems  the  mobt 
probable,  is,  that  if  the  f?cts  really  happened,  they  were  contrived  by 
Caesar's  friends,  and  tb.o  heart  conveyed  away  by  some  artifice,  togiv*.- 
them  a  better  pretence  of  enforcing  their  admonitions,  and  putting 
Caesar  upon  his  guard  against  dangers,  which  they  really  apprehended, 
from  quite  different  reasons  than  the  pretended  dfnunciation«  of  the. 
sods. 


440  THE    LIFE    OF  sect.  vni. 

A.  UA.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.—C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

alleging,  that  his  absence  would  be  interpreted  as 
an  affront  to  the  assembly,  drew  him  out,  against 
his  will,  to  meet  his  destined  fate.=^ 

In  the  morning  of  the  fatal  day,  M.  Brutus  and 
C.  Cassius  appeared,  according  to  custom,  in  the 
forum,  sitting  in  their  praetorian  tribunals,  to  hear 
and  determine  causes ;  where,  though  they  had  dag- 
gers under  their  gowns,  they  sat  with  the  same 
calmness,  as  if  they  had  nothing  upon  their  minds  ; 
till  the  news  of  Caesar's  coming  out  to  the  senate, 
called  them  away  to  the  performance  of  their  part 
in  the  tragical  act ;  which  they  executed  at  last 
with  such  resolution,  that,  through  the  eagerness  of 
stabbing  Caesar,  they  wounded  even  one  another.f 

Thus  fell  Caesar,  on  the  celebrated  Ides  of 
March  ;  after  he  had  advanced  himself  to  a  height 
of  power,  which  no  conqueror  had  ever  attained 
before  him  ;  though,  to  raise  the  mighty  fabrick, 
he  had  made  more  desolation  in  the  world  than  any 
man,  perhaps,  who  ever  lived  in  it.  He  used  to 
say,  that  his  conquests  in  G^ul  had  cost  about  a 
million  and  \w(f  hundred  thousand  lives  ;J  and  if 
we  add  the  civil  wars  to  the  account,  they  could 
not  cost  the  republick  much  less,  in  the  more  valu- 
able blood  of  its  best  citizens  :  yet  when,  through 
a  perpetual  course  of  faction,  violence,  rapine, 
slaughter,  he  had  made  his  way  at  last  to  empire, 

*  Plutar.  in  J.  Caes.  ,  t  lb.  in  Brut.  App.  2.  505. 

f  Undecies  centenaet  nonaginta  duo  hominum  raillia  occisa  praelJis 
ab  eo — quod  ita  esse  confessus  est  ipse,  bellorura  civilium  stragem  non 
prodendo.     Pliu.  Hist.  7.  25. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  441 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonins. 

he  did  not  enjoy  the  quiet  possession  of  it  above 
five  months."^ 

He  was  endowed  with  every  great  and  noble 
quality,  that  could  exalt  human  nature,  and  give  a 
man  the  ascendant  in  society :  formed  to  excel  in 
peace,  as  well  as  war ;  providentrin  counsel ;  fear- 
less in  action  ;  and  executing  what  he  had  resolved 
with  an  amazing  celerity  :  generous  beyond  mea- 
sure to  his  friends  ;  placable  to  his  enemies ;  and 
for  parts,  learning,  eloquence,  scarce  inferiour  to 
any  man.  His  orations  were  admired  for  two 
qualities,  which  are  seldom  found  together,  strength 
and  elegance  :  Cicero  ranks  him  among  the  greatest 
orators  that  Rome  ever  bred  :  and  Quintilian  says, 
"  that  he  spoke  with  the  same  force  with  which  he 
"fought;  and  if  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  bar, 
"  would  have  been  the  only  man  capable  of  rival- 
''  ling  Cicero."  Nor  was  he  a  master  only  of  the 
politer  arts  ;  but  conversant  also  with  the  most  ab- 
struse and  critical  parts  of  learning ;  and  among 
other  works  which  he  published,  addressed  two 
books  to  Cicero,  on  the  analogy  of  language,  or 
the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  correctly .f  He 
was  a  most  liberal  patron  of  wit  and  learning, 
wheresoever  they  were  found ;  and,  out  of  his  love 
of  those  talents,  would  readily  pardon  those  who 
had  employed  them  against  himself;  rightly  judg- 
ing, that,  by  making  such  men  his  friends,  he  should 

*  Neque  illi  tanto  viro— plusquam  qiiinque  rucnsiiim  principalis 
quies  contigit— Veil.  Pat.  2.  56. 

f  It  was  in  the  dGtlication  of  this  piece  to  Cicero,  that  Caesar  paid 
him  the  compliment,  which  Pliny  mentions,  of  his  having  "acquired 
"a  laurel,  superiour  to  that  of  all  triumphs,  as  it  was  more  glorious 
*' to  extend  the  bounds  of  the  Roman  wit,  than  of  their  empire." 
Hist.  N.  7.  30. 

TOL.  ir.  '>6 


442                        THE  LIFE    OF                  sect.  viii. 
_Jl__ , _„- 

A.  Uib.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 


draw  praises  from  the  same  fountain  from  which  he 
had  been  aspersed.     His  capital  passions  were,  am- 
bition and  love  of  pleasure,  which  he  indulged  in 
their  turns  to  the  greatest  excess ;  yet  the  first  was 
always  predominant,  to  which  he  could  easily  sacri- 
fice all  the  charms  of  the  second,  and  draw  pleasure 
even  from  toils  and  dangers,  when  they  ministered 
to  his  glory.     For  he  thought  tyranny,  as  Cicero 
says,  the  greatest  of  goddesses ;  and  had  frequent- 
ly in  his  mouth  a  verse  of  Euripides,  which  ex- 
pressed the  image  of  his  soul,  "  that,  if  right  and 
"justice  were  ever  to  be  violated,  they  were  to  be 
*' violated  for  the  sake  of  reigning."     This  was  the 
chief  end  and  purpose  of  his  life  ;  the  scheme  that 
he  had  formed  from  his  early  youth  ;  so  that,  as 
Cato  truly  declared  of  him,  "he  came  with  sobriety 
"  and  meditation  to  the  subversion  of  the   repub- 
"  lick."     He  used  to   say,  "  that  there  were   two 
"  things  necessary  to  acquire  and  to  support  power, 
"soldiers  and   money,"   which  yet  depended  mu- 
tually on  each  other :  With  money,  therefore,  he 
provided  soldiers,  and  with  soldiers  extorted  mo- 
ney :  and  was  of  all  men  the   most  rapacious   in 
plundering  botR  friends  and  foes,  sparing  neither 
prince  nor  state,  nor  temple,  nor  even  private  per- 
sons, who  were  known  to  possess  any  share  of  trea- 
sure.    His  great  abilities  would  necessarily  have 
made  him  one  of  the  first   citizens  of  Rome  ;  but, 
disdaining  the  condition  of  a  subject,  he  could  ne- 
ver rest  till  he  had  made  himself  a  monarch.     In 
acting  this  last  part,  hi^  usual  prudence  seemed  to 
fail  him,  as  if  the  height,  to  which  he  was  mounted, 
had  turned  his  head,  and  made  him  giddy ;  for,  by 
a  vain  ostentation  of  his  power,  he  destroyed  the 
stability  of  it ;  and,  as  men  shorten  life  by  living 


sfccT.  viit.  CICERO.  44; 


A.  Urt).  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.-^.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 


too  fast,   so,   by  an  intemperance   of  reii^nino-,  he 
brought  his  reign  to  a  violent  end.^ 

it  was  a  common  question,  after  his  death,  and 
proposed  as  a  problem  by  Livy,  "  Whether  it  was 
"  of  service  to  the  republick,  that  he  had  ever  been 
"  born  ?"t  The  question  did  not  turn  on  tlie  sim- 
ple merit  of  his  acts,  for  that  would  bear  no  dis- 
pute, but  on  the  accidental  effects  of  them,  their 
producing  the  settlement  under  Augustus,  and  the 
benefits  of  that  government,  which  was  the  con- 
sequence of  his  tyranny.  Suetonius,  who  treats 
the  characters  of  the  Caesars  with  that  freedom 
which  the  happy  reigns  in  which  he  lived  indulijed, 
upon  balancing  the  exact  sum  of  his  virtues  and 

*  De  Caesare  et  ipse  ita  jiidico — ilium  omnium  fere  oratorura  La- 
tine  loqui  elegantissime — et  id — multis  litteris,  et  iis  qiiidem  recon- 
ditis  et  exquisitis,  summoque  studio  ac  diligentia  est  conseciitus. — 
[Brut.  370.]  C.  vero  Caesar  si  foro  tautuin  vacasset,  non  alius  ex  nos- 
tris  contra  Ciceronem  nominaretur,  tanta  in  eo  vis  est,  id  acumen,  ea 
concitatio, '  ut  ilium  eodem  animo  dixisse,  quo  bellavit,  appareat. 
[Quintil.  X.  1.]  C.  Caesar,  in  libris,  quos  ad  M.  Ciceronem  de  analo* 
gia  conscripsit.  [A.  Gell.  19.  8. J  Quin  etiara  in  raaximis  occupa- 
tionibus  cum  ad  te  ipsum,  inquit,  de  ratione  Latine  loquendi  acciira- 
tissime  scripserit.  [Brut.  370.  vid.  it.  Sueton.  56.]  In  Caesare  haec 
sunt,  mitis,  clemensque  natura — accedit,  quod  rairifice  inseniis  excel- 
lentibus,  quale  tuum  est,  delectatur — eodera  fonte  se  hausturum  in- 
telligit  laudes  suas,  e  quo  sit  leviter  aspersus. — [Ep.  Fam.  6.  6.]  r^^v 
B-iav /!jtiyt<;-Tiiv  wst'  t^iiv  tv^avviJa.  [Ad  Att.  7.  11.]  Ipse  autem  iu  ore 
semper  Graecos  versus  de  Phoenissis  liabebat — 

Kam  si  I'olandvm  est  jus,  rfgnandi  gratia^ 
Fiolanduni  est :  aliis  rebus  pietatem  colas. 

[Offic.  3.  21.] 

Cato  dixit,  C.  Caesarem  ad  evertendam  rempublicam  sobrium  ae- 
cessisse.  [Quintil.  1.  0.  2.]  Abstinentiam  neque  in  imperils  neque 
in  masistratibus  praestitit — in  Gallia  Tana,  templaque  Deumdouis  re- 
ferta  expilavit  :  Urbes  diruit,  saepiiis  ob  praedam  quam  delictum — 
evidentissimis  rapinis  ac  sacrilegiis  onera  bcllorum  civilium— susti- 
nuit.     [Sueton.  c.  M.     Vid.  it.  Dio.  p.  208.] 

T  Vid.  Senec.  Natur.  Quaest.  I.  5.  13.  p.  7C6. 


444  THE  LIFE    OF  sect.  viii. 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

vices,  declares  him,  on  the  whole,  to  have  been 
justly  killed  ;^  which  appears  to  have  been  the  ge- 
neral sense  of  the  best,  the  wisest,  and  the  most 
disinterested  in  Rome,  at  the  time  when  the  fact 
was  committed. 

The  only  question  which  seemed  to  admit  any 
dispute  w^as,  whether  it  ought  to  have  been  com- 
mitted by  those  who  were  the  leaders  in  it,t  some 
of  whom  owed  their  lives  to  Caesar,  and  others 
has  been  loaded  by  him  with  honours  to  a  degree 
that  helped  to  increase  the  popular  odium,  par- 
ticularly D.  Brutus,  who  was  the  most  cherished 
by  him  of  them  all,  and  left  by  his  will  the  second 
heir  of  his  estate  ? J  For,  of  the  two  Brutuses,  it 
was  not  Marcus,  as  it  is  commonly  imagined,  but 
Decimusj  who  was  the  favourite,  and  whose  part 
in  the  conspiracy  surprised  people  the  most.^ 
But  this  circumstance  served  only  for  a  diiFerent 
handle  to  the  different  parties,  for  aggravating 
either  their  crime  or  their  merit.  Caesar's  friends 
charged  them  with  base  ingratitude,  for  killing 
their  benefactor,  and  abusing  the  power,  which  he 
had  given,  to  file  destruction  of  the  giver.  The 
other  side  gave  a  contrary  turn  to  it,  extolled  the 
greater  virtue  of  the  men,  for  not  being  diverted, 
by   private   considerations,  from  doing  an  act  of 


*  Praegravant  lamen  caetera  facta,  dictaqiie  ejus,  ut  et  abusus  do- 
minatione  et  jure  caesus  existimetur.     Sueton.  c.  76. 

t  Disputari  de  M.  Bruto  solet,  an  debuerit  accipere  a  D.  Julio 
vitam,  cum  occideiidum  eum  judicaret.     Senec.  de  Benef.  1.  2.  20. 

t  Appian.  2.  518. 

5  Etsi  est  enim  Brutorum  commune  factum  et  laudis  societas  aequa 
Decirao  taraen  iratiores  erant  ii,  qui  id  factum  dolebant,  quo  minus 
ab  eo  rem  illam  dicebaut  lieii  debuisse.     Piiilip.  x.  7. 


SECT.  viii.  CICERO.  445 

A-  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

publick  benefit.  Cicero  takes  it  always  in  this 
view,  and  says,  *'  That  the  republick  was  the  more 
"indebted  to  them,  for  preferring  the  common 
"  good,  to  the  friendship  of  any  man  whatsoever ; 
"  that  as  to  the  kindness  of  giving  them  their  life, 
"  it  was  the  kindness  only  of  a  robber,  who  had 
"  first  done  them  the  greater  wrong,  by  usurping 
"  the  power  to  take  it ;  that,  if  there  had  been 
"  any  stain  of  ingratitude  in  the  fact,  they  could 
"  never  have  acquired  so  much  glory  by  it ;  and 
'*  though  he  wondered,  indeed,  at  some  of  them  for 
"doing  it,  rather  than  ever  imagined  that  they 
"would  have  done  it,  yet  he  admired  them  so 
"  much  the  more  for  being  regardless  of  favours, 
"  that  they  might  shew  their  regard  to  their  coun- 
"try."^ 

Some  of  Caesar's  friends,  particularly  Pansa 
and  Hirtius,  advised  him  always  to  keep  a  stand- 
ing guard  of  praetorian  troops,  for  the  defence  of 
his  person ;  alleging,  that  a  power  acquired  by 
arms  must  necessarily  be  maintained  by  arms  :  but 
his  common  answer  was,  "  that  he  had  rather  die 
"once  by  treachery,  than  live  always  in  fear  of 
"it."t     He  lised  to  laugh  at  Sylla  for  restoring 


*  Quod  est  aliud  beneficiiim — latronutn,  nisi  ut  corairemorare  pos- 
sint,  lis  se  dedisse  vitam,  quibiis  Don  ademerint  ?  quod  si  esset  bene- 
ficium,  nunquam  ii  qui  ilium  interCecrrunt,  a  quo  erant  servati, — tan- 
tam  essent  gloriam  consecuti.     Phil.  2.  3. 

Quo  etiam  majorem  ei  llespub.  gratiam  debet,  qui  libertatcm  po- 
puli  Uomani  uoius  amicitiac  praeposuit,  depulsorque  dominatus  quain 
particeps  esse  raaluit — admiratus  sura  ob  earn  causaiD,  quod  imme- 
mor  beueficioruin,  ineraor  patriae  fuisset. — lb.  11. 

f  Laudandum  experientia  consilium  est  Pansae  atque  Hirtii  :  qui 
semper  praedixerant  Caesari,  ut  principatura  armis  quacsitum  arniis 
teneret.     Ille  dictitans,  mori  se  quam  timere  malle.     Vel.  Pat.  2.  57. 

Insidias  undique  imminentes  subire  scmel  confessum  satis  esse, 
quam  ravcre  semper.     Suclon.  c.  8G. 


446  THE    LIFE    OF  sect,   vii 


A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Cojs.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 

the  liberty  of  the  republick ;  and  to  say  in  con- 
tempt of  him,  ''  that  he  did  not  know  his  letters.^" 
But,  as  a  judicious  writer  has  observed,  ''  Sylla 
"  had  learnt  a  better  grammar  than  he ;  which 
"  taught  him  to  resign  his  guards,  and  his  govern- 
"  ment  together :  whereas  Caesar,  by  dismissing 
"  the  one,  yet  retaining  the  other,  committed  a 
"  dangerous  solecism  in  politicks  ;"t  for  he  strength- 
ened the  popular  odium,  and  consequently  his 
own  danger,  while  he  weakened  his  defence. 

He  made  several  good  laws  during  his  adminis- 
tration, all  tending  to  enforce  the  publick  disci- 
pline, and  extend  the  penalties  of  former  laws. 
The  most  considerable,  as  well  as  the  most  useful 
of  them  was,  that  no  praetor  should  hold  any  pro- 
vince more  than  one  year,  nor  a  consul  more  than 
two.J  This  was  a  regulation  that  had  often  been 
wished  for,  as  Cicero  says,  in  the  best  of  times ; 
and  what  one  of  the  ablest  dictators  of  the  repub- 
lick had  declared  to  be  its  chief  security,  not  to 
suffer  great  and  arbitrary  commands  to  be  of  long 
duration  ;  but  t(j  limit  them  at  least  in  time,  if  it 
was  not  convenient  to  limit  them  in  power.^  Cae- 
sar knew,  by  experience,  that  the  prolongation  of 

*  Nee  minoris  impotentiae  voces  propalain  edebat — Syllara  nes- 
cisse  litteras,  qui  dictaturam  deposuerit.     Sueton.  77. 

f  Vid.  Sir  H.  Savile's  Dissertat.  de  Militia  Rom.  at  the  end  of 
his  translation  of  Tacitus. 

\  Phil.  1.  8.  Sueton.  J.  Caes..42,  43. 

\  Quae  lex  melior,  utilior,  optima  etiara  Repub.  saepius  flagitata, 
quam  ne  praetoriae  provinciae  plus  quam  anuuin,  neve  plus  quam 
bienuium  consulares  obtinerentur  ? — Phil.  1.  8. 

Maraercus  Aemilius— maximam  auteni,  ait,  ejus  custodiam  esse,  si 
magna  imperia  diuturna  non  essent,  et  temporis  modus  imponeret'ur. 
quibus  juris  imponi  non  posset.     Liv.  i.  4.  24. 


SECT.  VIII.  CICERO.  447 

A.  Urb.  709.    Cic.  63.    Coss.— C.  Julius  Caesar  V.    M.  Antonius. 


these  extraordinary  commands,  and  the  habit  of 
ruling  kingdoms,  was  the  readiest  way,  not  only 
to  inspire  a  contempt  of  the  laws,  but  to  ^ive  a 
man  the  power  to  subvert  them  ;  and  he  hoped, 
therefore,  by  this  law,  to  prevent  any  other  man 
from  doing  what  he  himself  had  done,  and  to  se- 
cure his  own  possession  from  the  attempts  of  all 
future  invaders. 


END   OF   VOLUMB    SECOND. 


I 


